Racino decision delayed a week

The Ohio State Racing Commission will wait for at least another week before deciding whether to approve a proposed Dayton racino.

Commissioners this morning again said developer Penn National’s design for proposed racinos in Dayton and Austintown don’t include enough seating for race spectators. Chairman Robert Schmitz said the commission will schedule another meeting a week from today to consider Penn National’s request to move Raceway Park in Toledo to Dayton and Beluah Park in Grove City to Austintown.

Steven Snyder, Penn National’s vice president of corporate development, said adding any more seating would mean the company would have to re-draw its architectural plans from scratch.

“If you are asking us to add seating, we must expand the building. Expanding the building will delay the schedules you have seen,” Snyder said.

As it stands, both racinos are slated to open sometime in Spring 2014. Redesigning the buildings to make them bigger would take anywhere from three to six months, Penn National officials said.

Penn National’s planned racino in Dayton is on the site of a former Delphi plant on Wagner Ford Road in north Dayton calls for a half-mile harness race track, no grooms quarters or permanent barns and 120 horse stalls.

The company also is awaiting approval from the Ohio Lottery Commission to put 1,500 video lottery terminals at the Dayton racino and 1,000 VLTs at the Austintown facility near Youngstown. That decision is contingent upon approval of the request to relocate.

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