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Racino project will give back some funds
Some of the money raised has already been used for site work.
HILLSVILLE, Pa.— Despite a financial setback, the Valley View Downs Project is not dead, a Centaur official said Wednesday.
“We will vigorously pursue successful development of Valley View Downs through all means available,” said Susan Kilkenny, Centaur’s Director of Corporate Marketing and Public Relations from her Indiana office. Centaur is the parent company of the $425 million Valley View Downs harness racing/casino development.
This is despite a press release sent from Centaur on Wednesday stating that Centaur has agreed to return an undisclosed amount of money raised last fall as part of the credit agreement for the proposed “racino” in Mahoning Township off U.S. Route 422.
Kilkenny said some of the financing raised last fall had already been used for work at the site. The amended $1 billion financing agreement provides that Centaur keeps the financing for continued operation of its properties at Fortune Valley Hotel and Casino in Colorado and Hoosier Park Racing and Casino in Indiana.
The focus of the corporation’s efforts now to engage an investment bank, which it expects to do within the next two weeks, Kilkenny said, adding the bank will then “counsel and guide” Centaur on the best strategic next move in order to bring the Valley View Downs project to fruition.
The announcement comes approximately two months after Centaur was denied a conditional Category I license to operate 3,000 slot machines at the track for which a harness racing license already has been approved. Centaur officials wanted the conditional license to be granted while they were waiting for a decision on a final license in order to satisfy its lenders who required a license be obtained by July 15. But the gaming board refused to be hurried on the exhaustive background checks required before it holds the final “suitability hearing” required for a slots license. The July 15 deadline passed with no conditional license.
Officials from Valley View had testified at a hearing here in May and repeated in petitions filed with the gaming board they were concerned about losing their financing if a decision was not made by July 15. Valley View Downs had argued it could legally be granted a license based on the fact Centaur has been investigated in other states where it has already obtained gaming licenses, including Colorado and Indiana.
Last spring, Gaming Board Chairwoman Mary DiGiacomo Colins estimated a final decision on the slots license would be made late this month. Their next regular meeting is set for Sept. 30.