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The Associated Press

A company planning to build a $175 million racino in southwest Ohio has moved a step closer to its goal.

Miami Valley Gaming & Racing announced Friday that it purchased harness racing licenses and other assets from the Lebanon Trotting Club Inc. and Miami Valley Trotting Inc.

The Dayton Daily News (http://bit.ly/R9QhF7 ) reports the new facility is expected to open in Lebanon in Warren County in the first quarter of 2014.

The project will include a harness racetrack and a 186,000-square-foot building that will open with more than 1,000 video lottery terminals. Miami Valley Gaming says the facilty is expected to create about 1,000 construction jobs and 700 permanent jobs.

Penn National Gaming also is planning a racino. The construction cost for the Dayton project is estimated at $125 million.

Posted in: News, Warren County |

Tags: Tags: buffalo, casino, commissioners, lebanon, miami valley gaming & racing, monroe, racino, tutlecreek township, warren county, warren county fairgrounds

This illustration shows what the new Warren County racino near Monroe is expected to look like. / Provided

Paul McKibben reports:

Warren County commissioners on Tuesday approved plans for a $175 million racino to be built in Turtlecreek Township, near Interstate 75 and Monroe.

The gambling facility will combine harness with video lottery terminals. Construction is expected to start next month and a last a year. The racino is a joint effort between Churchill Downs Inc. and Delaware North Gaming & Entertainment Cos.

The racino is expected to employ 700 people.

This story will be updated.

Posted in: News, Warren County |

Tags: Tags: buffalo, casino, commissioners, lebanon, miami valley gaming & racing, monroe, racino, tutlecreek township, warren county, warren county fairgrounds

This illustration shows what the new Warren County racino near Monroe is expected to look like. / Provided

Warren Co. commissioners will take up proposed $175M facility on Tuesday

Paul McKibben reports:

Warren County commissioners on Tuesday are hoping to approve a plan for a $175 million racino that would be built near Monroe and Interstate 75.

Anchoring the 120-acre site would be a 188,000-square-foot casino with up to 2,500 video lottery terminals, a 5/8-mile racetrack for standardbred harness racing and a two-level grandstand with 700 seats. A racino combines horse racing with video slots.

The racino would feature four restaurants, a gift shop, a 10,000-square-foot maintenance building and a paddock building/holding barn for the short-term stabling of up to 85 horses.

It is planned for the northeast corner of Ohio 63 and Union Road in Turtlecreek Township near Monroe. The land was formerly a state prison farm. Lebanon Correctional Institution is directly across from the site on Ohio 63.

The closest residential subdivision is Shaker Run, which is about four miles to the northeast.

A report from Stan Williams, planning director of the Warren County Regional Planning Commission, said a noise impact study found minimal potential impact to that development.

Williams noted there is a hotel, restaurants and retail in the immediate vicinity that compliment the racino.

“There is also potential for expansion and development in the vicinity that could cater to the racino customers,” Williams’ report said.

Miami Valley Gaming & Racing, a joint venture between Churchill Downs Inc. and Delaware North Cos. Gaming & Entertainment, hasn’t named the Warren County racino yet. The Lebanon Raceway would move from the Warren County Fairgrounds in Lebanon and become the new racino.

(more…)

Posted in: Business, News, Warren County |

Tags: Tags: casino, commissioners, dan corey, lebanon correctional institution, miami valley gaming & racing, monroe, prison, racetrack, racino, stan williams, the lebanon raceway, turtlecreek township, video slots, warren county

Paul McKibben reports:

Warren County commissioners today approved a special taxing district for a new racino that is expected to bring 700 jobs and millions of dollars of tax revenue as soon as late 2013.

Sale of the 120-acre property for $4.5 million from the state of Ohio to Miami Valley Gaming & Racing of Buffalo, N.Y., the racino operator, is pending.

The land, formerly a state prison farm, is located at Ohio 63 and Union Road in Turtlecreek Township, near the Monroe outlet mall on Interstate 75. Lebanon Correctional Institution is located directly across Ohio 63.

The Lebanon Raceway would move from the Warren County Fairgrounds in Lebanon to the new location. A racino combines horse racing and video slots.

Miami Valley Gaming’s plans, filed with the county, include a 188,000-square-foot casino and a five-eighths-mile track with a two-level grandstand that can seat 700. The casino will have up to 2,500 video lottery terminals but no gaming tables.

The casino would be open 24 hours a day/seven days a week.

Miami Valley Gaming is a joint venture between Delaware North Cos. Gaming and Entertainment and Churchill Downs.

Lebanon City Schools, Turtlecreek Township, Warren County, the Warren County Career Center and other taxing units will benefit financially from the racino because the property is currently owned by the state and governments don’t pay property taxes.

The Enquirer will update this story.

Posted in: News, Warren County |

Tags: Tags: buffalo, casino, commissioners, lebanon, miami valley gaming & racing, monroe, racino, tutlecreek township, warren county, warren county fairgrounds

Raymond Henry

A Mason woman was shot Friday afternoon just north of the new casino site in Cincinnati.

Police say Raymond Henry, director of operations of Memorial Hall, shot an acquaintance, Marianna Potee, 43, in a car, then turned the gun on himself.

Potee’s medical condition is unclear.  She has a listed Mason address.

Henry, 45, died Friday at University Hospital, according to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office.

Carrie Whitaker reports:

His family did not wish to speak to an Enquirer reporter Monday morning, said his aunt, Joan Henry.

Police were called to 324 E. 14th St. about 1:20 p.m. to the report of a shooting. They found Henry and Potee in a car. Both had been shot and police say Henry shot Potee and then himself. They were rushed to University Hospital.

Henry had worked at Memorial Hall for about five years. The concert hall, listed on the National Historic Register, is located next to Music Hall on Elm Street. The facility hosts a variety of events including concerts and weddings. It also houses the Classical Music Hall of Fame.

According to court documents Henry has been accused before of threatening women. In 2008 he was charged with domestic violence after allegedly pushing a woman’s face into a wooden door. The charge was dropped after the woman decided not to pursue the charge, but not before filing a protection order against him.

Henry was convicted in 2002 of attempting to stalk another woman.

But some have have shared disbelief that Henry could be capable of this sort of violence.

Marge Hammelrath, president of the Cincinnati Memorial Hall Society, said she spoke to Henry Friday morning before the shooting and he offered no hint of trouble.

She asked him to turn on the air conditioning at the hall, she said, in case some people at the Washington Park opening celebration needed a break from the heat.

“When I look back now, over the last couple, three months, I think he was trying to tell me he was depressed but couldn’t,” Hammelrath said.

 

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: casino, cincinnati, died, downtown, marianna potee, mason, memorial hall, murder suicide, pendleton, raymond henry, shooting