Company files to relocate racetrack to Austintown

Staff report

Penn National Gaming Inc. has filed for permission to relocate two racetracks to Austintown and Dayton, and must now wait for approval from Ohio gaming agencies.

The company announced Monday that it formally filed with the Ohio Lottery Commission for video lottery sales agent licenses for its Ohio racetracks, and with the Ohio State Racing Commission for permission to relocate the racetracks from Columbus and Toledo to Austintown and Dayton, respectively.

Tim Wilmott, president and chief operating officer for Penn National Gaming, said filing for the licenses is the next step forward in getting both projects under way.

“We are hopeful we can receive state approval in a timely manner, allowing us to break ground this fall on the new facilities in the Mahoning Valley and in Dayton,” Wilmott said in a news release.

Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for Penn National, told The Vindicator that now was the right time to file for approval. He said the corporation hadn’t done it previously because of a lawsuit filed by the Ohio Roundtable challenging the state’s authority to permit slot machines at horse racetracks.

“The main reason we hadn’t filed the application before now was because the lawsuit had everyone frozen in place,” he said.

That lawsuit was dismissed by a Franklin County judge in May. “Our impression now is that this was the appropriate time to file,” Tenenbaum said.

Under terms of a memorandum of understanding with the office of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Penn National has agreed to pay, over time, a $75 million relocation fee for each racetrack, in addition to the $50 million VLT (video lottery terminal) license fee per track.

Tenenbaum said the racing commission still needs to approve that fee.

In addition to up to 1,500 VLTs per facility, both of the new properties will feature restaurants, bars and other amenities. Each is expected to create approximately 1,000 direct and indirect jobs, and to generate approximately 1,000 construction jobs.

Penn National has previously indicated that it will continue to operate Beulah Park in the Columbus suburb of Grove City and Raceway Park in Toledo until the expected opening date of the new facilities sometime in 2014.

The new Austintown facility will be a thoroughbred track located on 184 acres at Centrepointe Business Park near the intersection of Interstate 80 and state Route 46.

The company purchased the property in April for more than $4.6 million.

It will be known as Hollywood Slots at Mahoning Valley Race Course, and Penn National plans to break ground this fall on the $125 million project.