Out of Luck: Inside North Carolina's debate over casinos

North Carolina lawmakers have hit pause on a plan to bring new casinos to the state. It's perhaps the most politically divisive matter that's been put forward to address a looming budget shortfall.

A 12-story Caesars resort is under construction just across the North Carolina border in Danville, Virginia.

The contrast couldn’t be more clear.

I traveled north along Highway 86, crossed into Virginia and saw a major construction project in Danville, where a couple dozen crew members were working to get a 12-story resort up and running by the end of the year.

A big white tent next to the construction site served as an interim casino, which housed sports-betting kiosks, tables for craps, roulette, blackjack and poker and several hundred slot machines.

Caesars Virginia in Danville is bustling.

I then traveled 43 miles southwest to Camp Carefree in Stokesdale, where the scenery couldn’t have been more different.

For 38 years, the camp has been a source of escapism and tranquility for children with chronic illnesses or disabilities. And in two months, a new wave of kids will arrive for a free weeklong stay highlighted by lively games and activities.

But at sunset one April night, all was calm. A great blue heron rested peacefully along the lake. Canoes and kayaks sat next to an empty playground on the lake’s left. A wooden pirate ship stood on the right. It’s this idyllic rural lifestyle many in Rockingham County have come to appreciate. 

A great blue heron rests along the lake of Camp Carefree.

But that sense of calm was upended last year when residents learned a 192-acre lot of land next to the campsite was being floated as the anchor point of a casino designed to compete with one in Danville.

Residents saw the proposed rezoning as a threat to their way of life.

“We’re not going anywhere,” said Rhonda Rodenbough, who has worked at the camp alongside her husband since the 1980s. “And we’re not backing down. No matter what they do, we’re not backing down.”

Rhonda Rodenbough, a board member for Camp Carefree, has worked at the Stokesdale site since the 1980s. She now worries about the impact of a potential casino in an adjacent lot.

Local and state officials, however, viewed the proposed rezoning as an opportunity to help address a looming budget shortfall.

“The reality is a brick and mortar facility does not expand gambling or any issues associated with gambling, but would become a destination offering tremendous benefits to the county and our residents, in the form of revenue, entertainment, and good paying job,” said Kevin Berger, the son of Senate leader Phil Berger who is also a Rockingham County commissioner who won reelection by three votes last month.

Today for The Assembly, I’m out with an in-depth story on how the casinos debate has played out in North Carolina and how lawmakers are looking to address a projected budget deficit in the coming years.

Here’s what you need to know: