Racetrack continued on A9
LEBANON — Owners of Lebanon Raceway are considering purchasing state-owned land to build a race track/casino facility near Interstate 75, just outside of Monroe.
Representatives of the harness racing track have spent more than a year looking at various sites along the I-75 corridor between Monroe and Dayton. Keith Nixon, one of the co-owners of the Lebanon Raceway, confirmed to the JournalNews that they recently began looking at the site just a few miles west of Lebanon along I-75.
That site, which is at the northeast corner of Ohio 63 and Union Road, is state-owned land that is used by the Lebanon Correctional Institution’s farm. Selling the land to the track owners would require state legislation.
House Bill 386, sponsored by State Rep. Louis Blessing, R-Cincinnati, would permit the sale of 120 acres to the Lebanon Raceway organization for about $4.5 million, according to Nixon, county and state officials.
The land sale provision is part of the bill to establish rules to regulate the racinos at Ohio’s seven race tracks.
State Rep. Ron Maag, R-Salem Twp., and State Rep. Peter Beck, R-Mason, said they were both in favor of the bill.
Maag said he was unaware of any opposition for the bill and expects it to be approved in the next few months.
Beck said it was important to keep the race track in Warren County to retain the current jobs as well as creating more jobs once the racino and horse racing operations start.
“I’m excited about this opportunity to keep the race track in Warren County,” Beck said.
Beck said the bill will help to raise the prominence of the horse racing industry in the state.
For the past several years, the Lebanon Raceway’s future has been unclear due to the inability to compete with surrounding states that offer gaming such as video slot machines at their horse racing venues.
Because Ohio does not permit the VLTs at its race tracks, the horse racing industry has suffered because of larger purses and other gaming opportunities available at race tracks in other states. Lebanon Raceway has also suffered. Nixon said the track lost about $200,000 in 2010.
Nixon said his group has identified three to four sites, but “wasn’t done looking yet.”
“At this point, we’re going to work to make these changes happen,” Nixon said. “We’re waiting to for all of the pieces to fall. When they do, we’ll move forward.”
Nixon is president of the Miami Valley Trotting Club, and his family co-owns the Lebanon Raceway with the Lebanon Trotting Club that is owned by the John Carlo family, and Delaware North Companies Gaming and Entertainment. The Nixon and Carlo families alternate operating the race track every other year.
The Warren County Fairgrounds has been the home of the Lebanon Raceway since the 1940s. But in its lease with the county Fair Board, the track is closed in July for the Warren County Fair. In 2006, the Nixons and the Carlo families brought in Delaware North for their expertise of the gaming side of racinos.
County Commissioner Pat South said a project team of various department heads and the Warren County Port Authority has been created to assist the owners in developing the race track at Ohio 63 and Union Road.
“This site in Warren County was their No. 1 pick,” she said. “But nothing is final until the deed is recorded and shovels start turning dirt.”
South said county officials have had preliminary discussions with the Carlo and Nixon families as well as Delaware North.
If the new racetrack comes to fruition, between 700 and 1,000 part- and full-time jobs could be created from the projected $175 million investment in the county, she said. The county will also receive sales tax revenues once the racetrack begins operations, she said.
The Ohio Governor’s Office estimated the financial impact of about $2 million a month for the seven communities that will have racinos.
“This fits in with our tourism industry because it won’t be local residents financially supporting the racino,” South said. “We have seven million tourists that come to Warren County each year and they’re always looking for more venues.”
If the Lebanon Raceway ownership eventually obtains a gaming license and settles on a site, it will need to have a temporary gaming facility until the new track is ready for business. South said the race tracks will be permitted to have 2,500 VLTs at their sites but said a temporary casino might start with 700 to 1,000.
South said there is a possibility that a temporary casino with VLTs could operate at the fairgrounds to begin generating revenues. The county owns the fairgrounds but leases the property to the county Fair Board.
“All three commissioners are willing to be open to discuss a temporary casino at the fairgrounds, but nothing long-term,” she said. “The lease with the Fair Board requires a majority vote of commissioners to permit any additional gaming that isn’t already there.”
“No details have been finalized,” South said.
An official with Delaware North recently said the group has been looking at potential sites for the past few years and reviewing options so that they will be ready to move when the time comes.
Once Lebanon Raceway is moved to a new location somewhere between Cincinnati and Dayton, there will be plenty of venues for gaming such as the new downtown casino and River Downs in Cincinnati and a new facility that Beulah Park in Columbus that will be moving to Dayton, along with the casinos already in operation in southeastern Indiana.
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4505 or at Ed.Richter@coxinc.com.
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