LAWRENCE COUNTY Slots OK spurs race for track

Public hearings for race-track licenses are expected to begin soon.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW BEDFORD, Pa. -- Now that Pennsylvania's state Legislature has passed gaming legislation, Carmen Shick is looking forward to making his case for locating one of the horse-racing track/slots parlors in Lawrence County.
"We've been constantly tuning and refining our project during this whole time of indecision in Pennsylvania. Now that they've done it, we are getting ready for the public hearings," said Shick, president of Bedford Downs.
The racetrack, which Shick would operate with his brother Kenneth Shick III and sister Kendra Tabak, would be in New Bedford, Pa., about halfway between New Castle and Youngstown on U.S. Route 422.
The $65 million project includes the track, grandstand, slots parlor, hotel and plans for retail and residential properties.
Public hearings
Shick estimates public hearings by the state horse-racing commissions will begin in the next 60 to 90 days. Each applicant should get two hearings -- one in Harrisburg and the other near the site.
Bedford Downs has applied for both harness and thoroughbred licenses, hoping to come out with only one.
"We are primarily seeking the harness license, but we would be more than happy to accommodate the state racing commission based on their evaluation of what is best for horse racing in the state of Pennsylvania," Shick said.
State lawmakers worked through last weekend to pass slots legislation that apparently has approved seven racetrack casinos, with six already promised to existing racetracks. There are provisions for stand-alone casinos also in the law.
The seventh license has a good chance of ending up in western Pennsylvania, said state Sen. Gerald LaValle, D-47th, who represents Lawrence, Beaver and part of Allegheny county.
Three entities in his district are vying for that last license -- two in Beaver County and Bedford Downs in Lawrence County -- and LaValle said he made it clear to Senate leaders he would not vote for the legislation if those seeking licenses in his district were not given a shot at it.
"These facilities will now have to stand on their own merit. Our location is good. We are losing money from western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio to West Virginia. I've physically been to all three sites, and they are all good," LaValle said.
In Beaver County, a thoroughbred track is proposed near the intersection of Pa. Route 60 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. A harness track is proposed just off Pa. Route 551 near Chippewa.
Shick said he wants to have his public hearing on the site of the proposed track.
The reclaimed mining site is a picturesque flat piece of land between the main offices of the family business, C.D. Ambrosia, a trucking, coal and construction company, and Shick's grandmother's house, where he was born and reared.
"The project is in our back yard. We have a lot of incentive to make sure it's run very well and very clean, and we do our best to eliminate any potential problems," he said.
Shick, his speech peppered with racing puns, has been speaking to groups about the project since the family announced its intentions last August.
A letter-writing campaign, started by Bedford Downs, has produced more than 15,000 letters of support for the project from both sides of the state line, he said. Municipalities, including Campbell and Lowellville in Mahoning County, across the Ohio line, have also chimed in with support for the project, expected to employ about 2,000 people.
Shick said the family intends to treat the horse-racing end of the business with as much care as the slots. His father used to race harness, his sister shows Arabian horses and Shick took riding lessons as a child, he said.
"I've had a lot of experience cleaning stalls. I've definitely seen the hind end of the industry," he joked.
The family has also been working with Renaissance Partners LC, a Texas-based management-consulting firm, and managers from Sam Houston Race Park in Houston. Gralla Architects LLC of Oklahoma is designing the track.
Shick cites his family's involvement with horses as proof that they are interested in promoting both the horse-racing sport and the lucrative slots venue.
"Our site would be less profitable than a stand-alone, but [the horse racing] gives us much better attraction value. I don't want to bring Las Vegas to New Castle," he said.
cioffi@vindy.com