"Tuesday’s opening of the Wind Creek Casino and Hotel has generated excitement throughout town and the greater Gulf Coast region. Area citizens are amazed that such an establishment has been constructed in Atmore. Like manna from Heaven, it seems, people have come to openly expect benefits from Wind Creek to wash away our other problems and open up a bright future.

Wind Creek will not, however, relieve our problems. It will make them more severe. Wind Creek does indeed offer a remarkable opportunity to transform our community and join with Brewton and neighboring Baldwin County cities in establishing a corridor of wonderful towns throughout southeast Alabama.

However, Wind Creek also greatly increases the demand for effective local governance, housing options, good schools, a solid infrastructure and functioning civic institutions. Unless we as a community are willing to step up and meet these challenges, the wonderful opportunity the Tribe has given us will be lost. As a newfound center of tourist activity, lost opportunities are much more detrimental. Bad roads, for instance, are no longer a simple inconvenience; they are instead a competitive disadvantage that will cost us businesses, residents and visitors."

Get the Story:
Tray Smith: Casino will only benefit city if we make it (The Atmore Advance 1/12)

More Stories:
Casino on the map (The Atmore Advance 1/12)
Wind Creek benefits county (The Atmore Advance 1/12)