By Mario Moretto
Sep 01, 2011 8:10 am
SCARBOROUGH — Scarborough Downs has no plans to build a proposed
racino anywhere other than Biddeford, even though new wording of a
ballot question makes it clear the project can end up somewhere else.
And though they may not agree on much, both sides of the racino
debate say they are happy with the revised wording of the statewide
referendum.
"We're happy that question has been resolved, because now we can get
down to the job at hand,” said Crystal Canney, spokeswoman for
Scarborough Downs and Ocean Properties, the other company behind the
Biddeford project.
Originally, the wording for the November ballot asked simply whether
voters wanted to allow slot-machine gambling at harness racing tracks,
or racinos, in Biddeford and in Washington County.
But anti-casino group CasinosNO! and Rep. Linda Valentino, D-Saco,
lobbied Secretary of State Charles Summers to change the wording of the
bill to reflect that passage would actually allow for the construction
of a racino anywhere within 25 miles of Scarborough Downs, in any
community that approved it.
On Aug. 25, Summers released final wording of the ballot question, which now asks:
"Do you want to allow a slot machine facility at a harness racing
track in Biddeford or another community within 25 miles of Scarborough
Downs, subject to local approval, and at a harness racing track in
Washington County, with part of the profits from these facilities going
to support specific state and local programs?"
“I think it was a big improvement," said Dennis Bailey, spokesman for
CasinosNO!. "The original language was misleading. All it said was 'Do
you want a slots facility at a racetrack in Biddeford.' That's not what
the law says.”
The racino and hotel complex, to be called Biddeford Downs Racino, is
proposed for city-owned land west of the Maine Turnpike off Andrews
Road in Biddeford. The complex's value has been estimated at $120
million.
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