State to gain $150M from company moving racetrack to Austintown

State to gain $150M from company moving racetrack to Austintown

Associated Press

TOLEDO

Ohio stands to pocket nearly $150 million from a gambling company building two casinos so that it can move its two horse racing tracks to Austintown and Dayton.

Penn National Gaming Inc. wants to move the horse tracks out of Toledo and suburban Columbus to reduce the competition for drawing gamblers to its casinos.

The company’s casino in Toledo is set to open at the end of this month and the Columbus casino will open this fall.

In exchange for moving the two horse tracks, Penn National will pay the state a $150 million relocation fee.

City leaders and elected officials in the two towns losing the tracks want a bigger share of the pot that the state will collect so that they can redevelop the sites. Penn National has purchased a 186-acre property in Austintown off state Route 46, where it plans to move Grove City’s Beulah Park, for $4.6 million.

Despite several legal hurdles yet to be overcome, company officials are eyeing construction, which is expected to take about 18 months.