Financially strapped District of Columbia is studying casino gambling and has sent lottery officials to Louisiana to learn more about that state's operations.
"We're looking at it in a very serious manner," George Brown, assistant city administrator for economic development, told the Washington Post Friday.Washington, D.C., city officials said casino gambling could help spur economic development and help finance a proposed $500 million convention center.
Competition could come from both Maryland and Virginia, which are considering offering riverboat gambling on area waterways.
Brown and Washington lottery officials are preparing a report on a study on potential revenue as well as possible regulatory and political problems casino gambling entail.
Louisiana officials expect the state to earn $115 million for its first year of casino gambling.
Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly and other Washington city officials have been studying ways to raise an estimated half billion dollars for a new convention center that would be three times the size of the current center.
The Post, quoting unnamed sources, said options include selling the current convention facility to a company that would turn it into a casino. The gaming company in turn would be required to provide financing for the new convention center.