Mar. 1--There's nightlife in the city. Of the 24-hour variety. 

And any slowdown seems far away. 

When Detroit got its first temporary casino -- MGM Grand Detroit -- in the summer of 1999, a new breath of entertainment exhaled from the outskirts of downtown. 

Since then, two others -- the MotorCity and Greektown casinos -- have opened, adding to the thriving casino scene in place across the river at Casino Windsor. 

And although the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks continues to depress the economy, Detroit's three casinos set records nearly every month for drawing customers and their cash. 

In 2001, the three took in a little more than $1 billion from gamblers. 

The casinos paid $81 million of that to the state's K-12 education fund and $99 million to the city, which adds the money to its general budget and uses it for city programs. 

Most months, MGM Grand Detroit takes in a little more from gamblers than MotorCity, with Greektown a distant third. Casino Windsor used to take in more than any of the Detroit casinos, but after Sept. 11 its revenues dropped sharply, because up to 80 percent of the casino's customers had been coming from the United States. Casino Windsor spokesmen say they've seen a steady recovery, though they report business is still off by 15 percent to 20 percent from pre-9/11 levels. 

Casino Windsor is the only area casino that was built as a permanent facility; Detroit's gambling houses are all temporary casinos, and their owners plan to open larger permanent casinos with hotels. The city, however, is still working out agreements on where the permanent casinos will be and when they'll open, after the plan to put all three on the riverfront fell through. The original 3-year deadline to relocate has passed, but the city has extended it and will do that again if there's no agreement. 

Greektown and MotorCity are expected to stay where they are and add hotel rooms and more gambling space, while MGM Grand is expected to move to a new spot, possibly near Grand Circus Park. 

Despite approving riverfront casinos in 1998, a majority of the Detroit City Council members later changed their minds and decided not to use the riverfront for casinos. MGM Grand still wants to build there, but the council says no. And there is other uncertainty about the casinos' future. 

A northern Michigan Indian tribe, the Lac Vieux Desert Band, pushed a lawsuit against Detroit's casino law for five years because it said the law gave an unfair advantage to two groups to become owners. A federal appeals court agreed in January, declaring the law unconstitutional. The tribe says it doesn't want the casinos to close -- it just wants a piece of the action. The case is back in court to determine what, if anything, the tribe will get. That could take months. 

In the meantime, it's highly unlikely that the lawsuit will have any effect on the casinos, so MGM Grand, MotorCity, Greektown and Casino Windsor will be entertaining Detroit and its visitors for a while. 

By Kelley L. Carter and Tina Lam 

-----To see more of the Detroit Free Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.freep.com Copyright: (c) 2002, Detroit Free Press. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. MGG,