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Ohio Starts Casino Boom with Toledo Ground Breaking

Posted on August 15th, 2010

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A casino worth $250 million that will be built in the area of East Toledo, Ohio, had its ground breaking ceremonies last Thursday. This signaled that beginning of a construction project that is estimated to be finished at around two years. Heading the celebration is Penn National Gaming, Inc., a company based in Wyomissing, PA, which also lists Raceway Park among its properties. The casino will be housed on land that used to be an industrial site, located on Miami Street, which is on the western side of I-75. The start of this casino’s construction will signal the commencement of three other casinos in the state. This comes after an approved amendment to the constitution was made by Ohio voters in November of 2009, which allowed construction of the Toledo facility, as well as those in three other Ohio cities of Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland. Columbus will see ground breaking for its casino in the early part of 2011.

Present in the festivities in what will be called the Hollywood Casino Toledo were VIPs from the city and all around Ohio, including two Toledo retirees who seemed excited with the developments. Ginny Birkenkamp explained that while he is not a heavy gambler because he doesn’t want to lose and doesn’t win a lot in casinos, he does visit casinos when he goes to other places. The other senior citizen, George Maxon claims he has visited another Hollywood casino and has liked the experience. It seems that the two will be regulars of this facility that will include 60 table games, 20 poker tables and 2,000 slot machines. The casino will be huge at 290,000 square feet. The Toledo casino will be sharing the same Art Deco Hollywood theme reminiscent of the 1930s. This theme can also be seem in other Penn National’s Hollywood Casinos such as the ones in Illinois, Indiana Louisiana, Maine, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The construction of the project alone will open 2,100 jobs. As soon as the casino is opened by the early part of 2012, 1,200 permanent jobs will be made available to the public, announced Tim Wilmott, the president and chief operating officer of Penn National Gaming. The participants of the ceremony, which also included personalities from labor and business sectors were assured by Wilmott by saying, “This is really the first day if you’ll listen very, very clearly, you’ll hear that sucking sound of business starting to come back from Detroit.” Mike Bell, the mayor of Toledo, said that the Hollywood Casino, which will have 24-hour operations, will be giving the state’s northwest area its much-needed boost. He said that the casinos will give the area’s people with jobs, which will in turn give them the income to provide shelter and food for their families. As the money will be spent within the city, he said that the casino will prove to be very important. He accepted a check from Penn National worth for $1,038,613 to cover costs that the city shouldered for improvements in the site’s streets and utility facilities.

Bell gave credit to former Mayor Carty Finkbeiner as the first mayor to envision a casino in the area. Finkbeiner, who was also in tow for the proceedings, claimed that his original goal was not really to build a casino in the area to spruce the economy, but to put up something as an investment in the city’s riverfront. “I felt like it was time for us to take one more step forward with an alternative form of entertainment and economic development,” he said. “It’s not the answer, but it’s another option.” The city’s deputy mayor of operations, Steve Herwat, announced that $654,000 of the amount doled out by the state had been sourced from the capital improvement fund. That amount from the check will be funneled to the general fund of the city for the 2010 budget to be balanced out. What’s left of the amount will be given to the fund for the city’s water and sewers.

The officials of Penn National were quick to quote some figures for the projected tax revenue the riverfront casino will generate. About $25.3 million yearly is expected to be solicited by the city, Lucas County and the county’s school districts. 90 percent of available jobs will also be filled in by Toledo residents, whose applications will be accepted starting next year.