Centaur is not yet ready to throw in the towel, according to local officials.

News that Valley View Downs, the $430 million racetrack/casino complex planned for Mahoning Township may have fallen victim to the collapsing credit market may be premature.

Debtwire, a financial news service, this week said Centaur is being pushed to abandon its plans for Valley View Downs and to repay its lenders. Tightening credit markets are pushing Centaur into a corner and is discussing canceling its casino development in Lawrence County.

The Indiana-based gaming operator which owns a racetrack and casino in Indiana and a casino in Colorado last year negotiated an almost $1 billion financing deal that would upgrade existing properties and to build Valley View Downs.

Lawrence County Commissioner Dan Vogler said that ’as recently as last night’ he was assured by Centaur officials that the project is still alive.

’They told me negotiations with their creditors are on-going,’ Vogler said. ’They said discussions are at a ’sensitive and complex’ level but are continuing.’

Vogler said the commissioners are ’certainly concerned’ with speculation that the project may not continue.

’We have told them we will help them in any way we are able.,’

Vogler said the county is anticipating using slots revenue for necessary development projects. ’But we haven’t yet even devised how any revenue will be allocated,’ he said.

If the track and casino come, he said, the commissioners have pledged to assist Mahoning Township supervisors to expand a sewer line project along Route 422 to Valley View.

’But if Valley View does not come, there is no need to expand the line that far at this time,’ he said.

CENTAUR FINANCING

Centaur’s financing seemed to hit a snag when the state Gaming Commission failed to act last month to award a conditional slots license. The credit market has since collapsed further ’necessitating revisions of (Centaur’s) original credit agreement,’ corporate officials said in the past.

’They were told the process would take about a year,’ state Rep Chris Sainato said. ’Every other (gaming board) investigation took a year. Why would they think they could get through it sooner?’

He noted that Centaur did not apply for the gaming license until October 2007.