‘They’re trying to take away my sunshine’: Residents blasts casino project that would ‘block the sun’

Casino gambling was approved by voters for the historic Colorado mining towns of Black Hawk and Central City some decades ago.

Since then, there have been many controversies over the industry that is given to installing Las Vegas landscapes at the 8,000-foot elevations of the Colorado foothills towns.

For example, the historic Lace House, in the way of one casino project, simply was picked up and moved to another, non-historic, location and made part of a tourist stop.

Multiple tall casinos, up to about 35 stories, now tower above the valley in Black Hawk that used to be flooded in the spring, in an “ick” procedure, when, according to local personalities, wealthy Central City residents would release water to flush the sewage that had accumulated on the streets and ditches over the winter, downhill to Black Hawk.

Central City patrons were the elites of their time, patronizing their own opera house, at times used as a stage by some of the elite performers including Joseph Jefferson, Edwin Booth, Fanie Barlow, Buffalo Bill, P.T. Barnum’s circus, later Samuel Ramey and Beverly Sills.

Central City, in another controversial move, spent millions annexing land and building an 8-mile-long “main street” to access an exit from Interstate 70 that would have gamblers direct access to their town.

The towns are in Gilpin County, which has its own history of scandalous and offensive behavior including racism. Even after the casinos started appearing, the county paid $700,000 to settle a lawsuit by a black county resident who, stunningly, was identified in official sheriff’s department documents as “N***** Roy.”

Now it is G3 Gaming, of Raleigh, N.C., that is proposing the Gregory Gulch Gaming Resort project, which would be 100,000 square feet, 1,000 slot machines, 50 gaming tables, gift shops, restaurants, 600 hotel rooms, 2,000 parking spaces and 120 housing units for workers in the very valley that connects Central City’s heights to Black Hawk, downhill.

The 27-story project, however, would tick off locals, for sure.

A description of the agenda in the Denver Post noted the building would cut off Central City homes from any sunlight for months out of the year.

The report described how resident Bob Powe sits on his front porch, with coffee, to watch as the sun reaches his house of Casey Street.

“The warmth from the sky, Powe said, is vital in this Gilpin County town that’s perched at 8,500 feet, and where during the fall and winter the sun sits low on the horizon and shades Central City for part of the day,” the report described.

Even those few hours now are endangered, he said.

“This house depends on the sun to heat it up,” the 74-year-old said. “After 160 years, they’re trying to take away my sunshine.”

Climate change activists appear not to have gotten involved in the dispute, yet.

City officials whose decision on the project is not yet final suggest it gives Central City an opportunity to compete against Black Hawk, where two tall casino hotels already are located.

The issue is money, Central City’s boom at the opening of gambling has dwindled while downhill Black Hawk’s hasn’t. Central City got about $1 million in state gaming tax revenue in fiscal 2025, while Black Hawk got $12.2 million.

Said one Central City official, “My concern is, at this point in time, Central City is dying.”

Powe said that the new tower would simply destroy the view from many Central City points.

“He has posted ‘No Tower’ and ‘Not Black Hawk’ signs around his home,” the Post said.

Even worse, “You’ll be able to look right into the hotel windows and they’ll be able to look right at me. This will destroy my privacy, the view and the sunshine,” he said.

Central City’s present height limit for buildings is 53 feet. G3 wants its project to soar 345 feet.

City officials estimate they could collect $8 million a year from G3’s work.

Central City was founded in 1859 when gold dust as found, exploding quickly to 15,000 residents. Theaters, hotels and Central City still recognizes its historic prostitution industry with annual Lou Bunch “bed races” on its main street.

Peter Droege, chief of a foundation that works to preserve and restore the historic Belvidere Theater, suggested a project the size of an airport at the town’s entrance may be too much.

“I support economic development as long as it conforms to the historic nature of the town,” he told the Post.

The title to his home traces back some 150 years to the man who originally discovered gold there.

“Central City just has a historic quality that not many other communities in the country have — where you drive into it and it feels like you are stepping back in time,” he said in the report.

Central City’s district, where about 300 now live, actually produced some 6.3 million ounces of gold, 200 tons, that would be worth around $18 trillion on today’s market. Bob Dylan once performed in the town, failing to launch his later successful career, and Stetson hats were invented there.

Multiple movies and television shows have been created there.