Detroit businessman Don Barden has retained the state license to build the Pittsburgh casino.

		On the Web Read the full text of the Pa. Supreme Court decision, in .pdf format.

The state Supreme Court gave Mr. Barden the victory today, rejecting appeals filed by losing bidders Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. and Station Square Gaming challenging the license.

"I feel both overjoyed and vindicated by the Supreme Court's decision," Mr. Barden said this afternoon.

"While it's taken a little longer to get to this point than we had anticipated, we're grateful to the court for moving with such urgency and helping to clear the way for Pittsburgh's first casino.''

With the decision, Mr. Barden expects to move quickly to begin construction of his North Shore casino, which will be built between the Carnegie Science Center and the West End Bridge.

He wants to have it built in 14 to 16 months, an ambitious construction schedule that would place the opening in October-December 2008. Before appeals were filed, he had been shooting for a March 2008 opening, but that has been pushed back twice by the court case.

Mr. Barden and his company, PITG Gaming LLC, already have permission to demolish buildings on the site. They also have received master plan approval from the city, although that is being challenged in court by the Steelers and Pirates over traffic-related issues.

The challenge is not expected to delay the start of construction, however.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.