PITTSBURGH -- In a watershed moment for Pittsburgh, the state Gaming Control Board awarded the city's sole slots license to PITG Gaming on Wednesday.

The Detroit development firm plans to build its casino, with as many as 5,000 slot machines inside, next to the Carnegie Science Center.

Reaction has been swift from the Steelers and Pirates, who don't want to share the North Shore with a casino.

The Penguins are also disappointed. They backed Isle of Capri and its promise to build a new arena.

PITG's Don Barden said he wants to reassure the Penguins of his commitment to Plan B -- the backup financing package to replace Mellon Arena.

Who is Barden, the man behind the winning bid? Team 4 investigator Jim Parsons looked into his background.

Barden is an accomplished businessman from Michigan who pulled himself out of childhood poverty to become a multimillionaire.

But his track record also shows he has been involved in controversy, including a federal investigation in the mid-1990s.

Barden is the son of a factory worker, one of 13 children who grew up in the rural town of Inkster, Mich. From there, he went on to become the first African-American city councilman in Lorain, Ohio.

Barden also founded a weekly newspaper and was a television news anchor in Cleveland before returning to Michigan and making a fortune in cable television.

He now owns casinos in Gary, Ind., Tunica, Miss., Black Hawk, Colo., and Las Vegas. But he has had his share of controversy.

Last year, a federal appeals court ruled Barden's casino in Mississippi committed reverse discrimination by firing a white human resources director and replacing him with a less-experienced black employee.

In 1996, Detroit newspapers reported that a federal elections commission investigation determined that Barden co-signed an illegal loan for $50,000 to a Detroit congresswoman. No charges were ever filed against Barden.

In Gary, city officials expressed anger earlier this year when they learned that Barden negotiated a deal with the outgoing mayor to cut his casino's monthly payments to the city. Following those negotiations, former Gary Mayor Scott King went to work for Barden.

It doesn't appear that Barden has made any contributions to Pennsylvania politicians, though he is friendly with Bill DeWeese, the new Speaker of the House in Harrisburg. DeWeese reportedly was Barden's guest at the Super Bowl in Detroit in February.