Behind the reception desk at the Imperial hotel, there is a reminder of how Blackpool once saw its place in the world. Porthole-style clocks keep time in New York, Paris, Tokyo and Blackpool.
But after two decades of decline, Blackpool desperately needs new money and vitality. The Casino Advisory Panel (CAP) will today consider whether the creation of a supercasino - modelled on Las Vegas and Atlantic City - would make or break the town. The hearing is the last of seven public sessions over the past seven days and it promises to be a battle for the soul of Britain's brashest resort.
Alan Cavill, head of corporate policy and development at Blackpool city council, said: "Blackpool is suffering from a very slow, long and terminal decline. We need shock and awe. If not, why would people come? We have always had wacky buildings and we have always been the people's playground. It is Blackpool's job to be at the cutting edge of public taste."
But Steven Bate, a Lib Dem councillor and the public face of the Campaign Against Supercasino Expansion (Case), says the supercasino would be disastrous. "They have this idea that the customers would be James Bond types in suits and ties. It is more likely to be bussed-in old ladies as happens in the US."
There is another combatant, the Noble Organisation, owner of the Blackpool Coral Island complex of amusement arcades, casinos, restaurants and bars. The company has begun a high court action, arguing that a supercasino would ruin the town's economy.
David Biesterfield, its legal and development director, accuses the council of exaggerating Blackpool's plight. "It is not the basket case that the council suggests. We have a bigger interest than most in seeing Blackpool regenerated. It is a cheap shot to say this is about self-interest."
Before its public meetings, the Casino Advisory Panel graded the various bids, making the Millennium Dome in Greenwich the favourite. Glasgow and Blackpool, which already has 2,000 adult prize machines, were ranked close behind.
Blackpool plans to use a site on the Golden Mile and has told the panel that the development, including a landmark conference centre, would create 20,000 jobs and generate £2bn of investment.
The jobs are needed. The unemployment rate is 3.6% compared with the regional average of 2.1%. The town remains the most visited resort in the UK, but too many of the 2,264 hotels rely on residents on housing benefit to make ends meet.
Along the Golden Mile, the famous lights are blazing. Up to 15,000 people saw them switched on last week by Dale Winton. But traders such as Muz Latif, 21, whose family has run the Fashion Touch general store for 20 years, say they need more than one-off events. "The town is dying. We only get weekend visitors and hen parties. They make a lot of noise but they don't spend much."
Fortune teller Gypsy Petulengro has seen highs and lows in Blackpool over 40 years. "I suppose a supercasino would bring in a higher standard of visitor, but it won't happen. I just can't see it."
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
