The general contractor of a planned casino in Pittsburgh said he is optimistic financing will come through to keep the project moving, but acknowledged there's a scenario under which construction could be temporarily halted. Don Barden, the operator of the planned Majestic Star Casino, has until June 30 to pay contractors for work, said Dan Keating III, chairman of Philadelphia-based Keating Construction, the general contractor on casino project.

Pittsburgh - Don H. Barden could have scheduled the groundbreaking for his USD 450 million casino on his 64th birthday, Dec. 20, if he wanted. After all, he owns what is projected to be the most lucrative of Pennsylvania’s 14 slots casino licenses. But already irritated by a year’s worth of delays, Mr. Barden, the country’s only African-American owner of a national gambling company, decided against that.

You can pretty much forget about playing slot machines in Pittsburgh next year. It doesn't look like Don Barden's Majestic Star casino will open until 2009. Given that construction has yet to start at the North Shore site, casino spokesman Bob Oltmanns acknowledged yesterday that odds were stacked against a 2008 opening. "I don't see how it is possible with a 16-month construction schedule," he said. Mr. Oltmanns refused to speculate on a new timetable for the casino opening.