"Casino," even the word causes controversy. The debate is heating up here in mid-Michigan, with not one, but two casino projects in the works for the greater Lansing region.
People have strong opinions, both for and against. But what really happens when a casino comes to town? 6 News reporter Chivon Kloepfer investigated.
We all know the arguments, an increase in crime and addiction versus a boost for the local economy and tribal grants.
Mt. Pleasant is home of one of the largest casinos in Michigan, the Soaring Eagle Casino.
Nestled in the middle of the mitten, in Union Township, sitting on top of 7.9 square miles, lies Mt. Pleasant, a city of just over 26,000.
It's a small town, but it's a full house. Every day thousands travel the streets and every year that number is in the millions.
"Just to give you an idea, in Union Township alone, in 2000 we had about 7,800 residents. Today we have almost 13,000. We are simply one of the fastest growing communities in the whole state," said John Barker, Union Township supervisor.
Barker is the supervisor of Union Township. He's lived here for the past 19 years and says there are two main engines that have taken Mt. Pleasant from a small town to tourist destination, Central Michigan University and the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort.
"The casino has been very, very successful...now you see bus loads, I mean dozens of bus loads a day of people coming from around Michigan, some even come over from Canada," said Barker.
The casino has been a driving, thriving force since the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe opened the first small one in 1994, followed by the massive resort in 1998, bringing much more than just traffic to town.
"I have seen this dramatic growth in additional restaurants, hotels, gas stations, all meeting the needs of the traveling public," said Barker.
He says there's no question the growth has a direct connection to the casino.
In addition, construction, which in some communities has come to a dead halt - is actually thriving in Mt. Pleasant.
All things considered, it's no wonder the unemployment rate in Mt. Pleasant is one of the lowest in the state.
There's an added bonus that has many in Mt. Pleasant feeling like they've hit the jackpot. Twice a year the tribe is required to give out 2 percent of their electronic net winnings to Isabella County. To date. it's around $110 million. That money is being given to law enforcement, local governments, the health department and one of the largest benefactors, Mt. Pleasant Public Schools.
"Typically we get between one or two million dollars a year in dispersal...So they've been very kind to us," said Superintendent Michael Pung.
Pung grew up in the Mt. Pleasant area his entire life and has been working for the school system for 22 years.
"It has been very helpful. And typically, we use this grant money to buy capitol type items that we wouldn't otherwise have been able to afford; technologies, computers, smart boards, a lot of new kitchen equipment in our commercial kitchen for our culinary arts program, and it's allowed us to maintain a lot of state of the art things in our district," said Pung.
They've been able to maintain things like machines in shop class, a point of sale system for the culinary arts and state of the art computers with 3D technology that Pung says is virtually unheard of in high schools.
It's had a huge impact on the students, some have been able to graduate with as many as 36 college credits.
"We have a lot of teachers in other districts that surround us that and that are out of our county that seem a little bit jealous of what we have...It takes on a whole new meaning in terms of it takes most of our state air we have just to pay our bills and survive day to day and so we don't have a lot of extra money for capitol expenditures such as that so, it kind of fills a void for us," said Pung.
Tribal grant money also plays a roll in keeping the community safe, providing all 5 of the counties police agencies with new equipment, technology and much more.
"They've given us a lot of grant money to do different projects. They did fund our traffic team for a little while, for people that were coming in and out of the community. They did fund our youth services unit for I think around 12 years, that they funded that program and we're talking about a half a million dollar program," said Jeff Brown, PIO Mt. Pleasant Police Department.
Critics say it's a good thing there's extra police around, because Mt. Pleasant isn't as pleasant as it seems.
"We've had a huge influx of drugs, the drug cartels coming into town; from Chicago, Flint, Detroit, and a whole lot of other places, bringing a whole lot of drugs in here. So our drug use has increased and needless to say, the gambling addictions have ran regnant," said Nancy Parson, addiction specialist.
"The pretty bright lights don't cover the tawdry nature of what addiction does to people."
Tune in to 6 News at 11, Chivon will look into the darker side of the casino and tell you more about the gambling addictions and substance abuse as well as crime trends that can come with casinos.
