Nancy Lowry
New Castle News
NEW CASTLE —
If the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission is wondering about extending Centaur’s license, all they had to do was look around.
Supporters of the proposed multimillion Valley View Downs racetrack and casino turned out in force at yesterday’s commission meeting at The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Washington County.
Appearing at the meeting were Lawrence County commissioners Steve Craig, Rick DeBlasio and Dan Vogler; Mahoning Township supervisors Vito Yeropoli, Gary Pezzuolo and Mark Sackin and their solicitor Louis Perrotta; Mercer County Commissioner Kenneth Ammann; Mercer County businessman Dick Miller; and Slippery Rock University professor Dick Wukich.
“Lawrence County has shown strong support for this from the beginning,” DeBlasio said. “That support is still here.”
The number of local supporters was also noted by Centaur’s eight-man contingent who commented on the turnout after the session.
As predicted by Department of Agriculture spokesman Justin Fleming, the commission took no action on Centaur’s request for a two-year extension of its racing license. Centaur is expected to make a presentation to the commission to support the request. The commission will meet again on Aug. 26 in Harrisburg.
Centaur’s officials met in executive session with racing commission officials prior to the hourlong meeting, presided over by chairman Roy Wilt. Commission member Richard Welsh participated via telephone. The third commission seat is vacant.
Each month the commission receives reports from its license holders, including Valley View Downs.
Joe DeRosa, Centaur’s general manager of gaming, yesterday noted that Centaur requested the extension. If granted, live racing must to commence in Mahoning Township by Sept. 5, 2012.
“Many people have worked long and hard to get Valley View to this point,” he said. “We appreciate the support the community, elected officials, regulators and horsemen have shown to help to make this project a reality.”
On Sept. 5, 2007, Centaur received a license to conduct harness racing. The Indiana-based company defaulted on an almost $1 billion loan on July 15, 2008, when the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board refused to grant it a conditional license to operate a casino with up to 3,000 slot machines. Centaur requested an extension on Aug. 8, 2008. Under terms of that extension, Centaur is obligated to begin racing by Sept. 5, 2010, a deadline they will not meet.
“We need something like this for Lawrence County,” Yeropoli said. “We need the jobs something like this would provide.”
Yeropoli and Pezzuolo said they “feel good” about Centaur’s chances to get the extension and to find the financing for the project.
Vogler, who regularly attends meetings of the racing commission and Gaming Control Board, noted that Centaur was not mentioned at Thursday’s Gaming Control Board.
“They focused on the Foxwoods Casino project in Philadelphia,” he said. That project, he said, has had a gaming license for about four years but “has been financially challenged.”
“The board is running out of patience with them,” Vogler said. They told them they see casinos as assets in Pennsylvania and told them ‘You are wasting your assets’ and that time is running out for them.”
