(WSB Radio)  The Georgia Lottery Board will meet this morning for the first time since a proposal for Underground Atlanta and gambling went public.

Developer Dan O'Leary wants to bring VLT's, or Video Lottery Terminals, to the downtown area, as a way of pumping new life, and a lot of money, into the struggling attraction.

O'Leary's plan would include a 29 story hotel on the site of the Underground, along with restaurants, shopping and, of course, gaming.

"The lottery will own the machines, they will operate the machines and they will collect the money out of the machines," O'Leary tells WSB.  That money, he says, would go a long way towards helping students in Georgia.

"The lottery, I believe, last year generated about $850 million for the HOPE scholarship,' O'Leary says.  "Our project will add an additional $300 million a year to the coffers of the HOPE scholarship."

He says the money raised by the VLT's would be treated the same as revenues raised by the state lottery.  Under his plan, the lottery would get half of the money raised by gaming at the new Underground.

O'Leary also says the project would bring thousands of jobs to the city, while also generating millions in tax revenues.

He believes the proposal does not need to go before the Georgia legislature, because the Lottery Board already has the authority to operate VLT's.  So, according to O'Leary, all that is needed is the board's approval.

If the board gives the go-ahead to the plan, O'Leary says the first phase of the project could be completed in just 12 months.