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Centaur seeks OK to auction Valley View Downs
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
NEW CASTLE, Pa.
The announcement that Indianapolis-based Centaur, LLC, is seeking bankruptcy-court permission to auction Valley View Downs could be either very good or very bad news for the proposed Lawrence County racetrack/casino, which has been stalled for two years.
Centaur, which is Valley View Downs’ parent company, announced Wednesday it is seeking bankruptcy-court approval of bidding procedures for an auction to transfer ownership of Valley View Downs. Susan Kilkenny, spokeswoman for Centaur, said the company is in dialogue with interested buyers.
In a statement, Kurt Wilson, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Centaur, said that while the company had been optimistic it could emerge from the Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring process by late summer, the process has taken more time than expected and caused Centaur to look at other options. The auction is the best route “to expedite the project’s completion,” according to a Centaur press release.
Lawrence County Commissioner Dan Vogler said, “It is the commissioners’ No. 1 priority that the casino and racetrack be located in Lawrence County, whether it is owned by Centaur or another company.”
Vogler added that a new company with better financial standing might be able to move the project forward. He said he hopes that the regulatory bodies, especially the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission, remain committed to the Lawrence County site in Mahoning Township near the intersection of U.S. Route 422 and Pa. Route 551.
Justin Flemming, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission, said Wednesday that if Valley View Downs is sold, its harness-racing license would automatically transfer to the new owner.
But whoever owns Valley View Downs faces several obstacles before the “racino” could become a reality. The harness-racing license is set to expire next month and would have to be granted an extension for the project to remain alive. Centaur has requested an extension and that request could be heard at the Harness Racing Commission’s Aug. 26 hearing.
The harness-racing license awarded to Centaur was the fourth and final of the Pennsylvania licenses which by law must be combined with a casino.
However, it is the process of obtaining the casino license that has stalled the project so long that Centaur lost its initial lenders. Before awarding a license, the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission requires a lengthy process of background investigations of investors, which could take several years.