It just seems like that would be an uphill battle.’ He said, ‘it would but it’s worth it because it’s the one thing that’s a moon shot for this town. I said, ‘What in the world for?’ He said, ‘Well, I want to try to put a casino in there.’ I said, ‘Well, you’ll have to get approval from the state and probably have a referendum here. I ran into Clyde months later – maybe a year later – and he told me he had bought the mall. “(I) had looked at buying the mall, knowing I could get a pretty good price, but just could not think of a single thing to do with it. 15 interview at the headquarters of The United Company in Bristol. “The idea came from Clyde Stacy, not me,” McGlothlin told The Business Journal during a Nov. While city government officials say they have taken great strides in keeping Bristol from having to turn in its charter and become a town, Stacy, McGlothlin and others believe that building a privately-funded casino, resort and convention center is the only way to save the city. It’s a necessary gamble, they say, because the city is facing a bond-debt load it is unlikely to be able to meet. Photo by Tara Hodges, SweetSnaps PhotographyĬlyde Stacy and Jim McGlothlin, two men with a history of starting successful companies, are taking a long-shot gamble with multi-million dollar stakes in Bristol, Va.

Jim McGlothlin stands in front of what he hopes will be the entrance to the new casino in the old Bristol Mall.

Bristol mall casino