The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has indicated that its approval of a gaming license for the planned Lawrence Downs in northwestern Pennsylvania could be more than a year away.
A report submitted to gaming board members by Cyrus Pitre, chief counsel of the board’s Office of Enforcement Council, says documents submitted by Endeka Entertainment, owner of the project, contain an ownership structure that will require background checks that could easily extend to 2017.
Pitre’s report said “major players” in the project include a previously unknown person and a previously unknown entity, and that a final report on background checks for all the principals in Endeka will take at least 12 months, adding that confidentiality requirements prevent him from revealing the previously unknown entities.
Lawrence Downs is planned as the state’s only one-mile harness track, with a casino offering 1,500 slot machines, 43 table games and 15 poker tables. The project represents the final Category 1 racetrack casino license available in the state, and the only license that remains idle.
Located at the intersections of state routes 551 and 422 in Mahoning Township, near the town of Edinboro, the project has undergone several ownership changes over the past decade. State lawmakers had urged a reclassification of the license as Category 2 (non-racetrack), and a new round of bids from a cross the state, when Endeka was formed by Merit Management and Philadelphia produce magnate Joseph Procacci—both unsuccessful bidders for the second Philadelphia casino license.
Pitre told the Elwood City Ledger that the board has no issues with Procacci or Merit Management, since both had already been investigated in connection with the Philadelphia license. “If we were only dealing with Mr. Procacci and Merit with a traditional funding mechanism, this could probably be before the board by July or August at the latest,” he said.
The state Harness Racing Commission has granted Endeka a six-month extension to the deadline for presenting financing information.
Lawrence County Commissioner Dan Vogler, the county’s liaison to the state gaming board, told the newspaper that Pitre and his staff “are simply doing their job. They’re taking their roles very seriously. If it means it will ultimately lead to the awarding of a license, I’m quite willing to wait the amount of time indicated,” he said.
