It would be built along the Chattahoochee River. Smyre’s hometown is the site of one of the casinos proposed by Rick Lackey, founder of Atlanta-based City Commercial Real Estate. Calvin Smyre, D-Columbus, co-sponsor of a constitutional amendment to legalize casinos in Georgia introduced in the state House of Representatives late last month. “It gives a hometown flavor to have somebody in Georgia who would be a frontline player,” said state Rep. 84 in Liberty County is one of the targeted spots for a casino development, along with one along the Chattahoochee River in Columbus and another on Lake Hartwell near the South Carolina border, northeast of Atlanta. A Georgia developer who helped build The Battery, a mixed-use complex in Cobb County that includes the Atlanta Braves’ Truist Park, recently released renderings of three proposed casino resorts around the state, injecting tangible details into an issue that has been debated more often in broad generalities. This story also appeared in Capitol Beat News Serviceīut this year’s push features a different wrinkle.
