It was announced a few days ago that developers and legislators from the Southern Tier region asked for the Gaming Facility Location Board to reconsider its decision to award licenses to three casinos in the state of New York.
As a part of their request, the so-called Traditions Resort & Casino, located in the Town of Union, stated its support for the planned expansion of the already established racino Tioga Downs in Nichols. This marked the end of a year of bickering between the two venues that competed for an upstate license.
Peter Walsh, a Traditions developer, pointed out that there is no longer rivalry between Tioga and Traditions. Back on Tuesday, he was joined by 60 supporters of the idea for the Nichols-based venue’s further development.
As it was announced last week, the Gaming Facility Location Board decided to award the casino license for the region to Lago Resort & Casino, a venue that is to be built in Seneca County. Kevin Law, Chairman of the board, stated that they have made the most reasonable decision, since the Lago proposal was clearly the best of all three for this particular region.
Three of all four licenses were awarded by the board. And in addition to the Lago project, those in Schenectady and Sullivan County also got the nod.
Representatives from the Southern Tier claimed that their area was denied the opportunity for the economic development it needs so much right now. The casino would have created numerous jobs and local government would have received additional financial support from gambling revenue.
State Sen. Thomas W. Libous stated that locals will keep on trying to persuade Gov. Andrew Cuomo to award the fourth casino license to the region.
Mr. Libous claimed that the area needs this casino badly.
Jeff Gural, who has been in charge of the Tioga Downs Casino for almost eight years, commented that the fact the board originally defined the so-called Southern Tier region as stretching up to Lake Ontario should have aroused his suspicions that his venue’s application would be neglected.
The planned expansion of the Tioga Downs Casino would have included the addition of 1,000 slot machines and 50 gaming tables. As for the racino’s already installed 802 video lottery terminals, they were to be converted into regular slot machines. A total of 137 rooms were to be available at the hotel venue. And the whole project was estimated at $187 million.
The Traditions casino currently offers 1,200 slot machines and 50 gaming tables. If the venue had been awarded one of the licenses, it would have added a five-story extention to the resort. A two-level garage was also to be built. As for the hotel, it would have featured six stories and 160 rooms. The project was estimated at $212 million.
According to state officials’ projections, a casino in Tioga County would annually produce at least $3 million for Nichols and Tioga County.
