In mid-May, officials in Danville, Virginia announced that Caesars Entertainment had been chosen as the preferred operator for a new casino at Schoolfield. In November, voters will decide if they want a casino in their community; Danville is one of five cities permitted to open a casino under legislation passed last year; the others are Portsmouth, Bristol, Richmond and Norfolk.
Meanwhile, Colonial Downs owners Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, based in Richmond, has proposed an off-track betting facility in Danville as a backup plan in case the casino ultimately isn’t built there. Peninsula Pacific was one of seven gaming operators that responded to the Danville city council’s request for proposals last year.
In a letter to the city’s economic development office, Peninsula Pacific Chief Operation Officer Aaron Gomes wrote, “We are the only applicant with a viable backup plan should legislation authorizing Class III gaming in the Commonwealth not pass. If necessary, we will open, if approved, a satellite wagering facility that will also annually guarantee $5 million dollars to the city.” The OTB facility likely would be a Rosie’s Gaming Emporium.
Colonia Downs spokesman Mark Hubbard said it’s still to be determined whether the company will open one in Danville.
“Peninsula Pacific Entertainment will be monitoring the upcoming referendum in Danville to see what residents really want for their community,” he said. “We will determine next steps following the ballot on expanding the gaming opportunity that has already been approved by voters in Danville.”
Peninsula Pacific has promoted a casino project at the former Dan River Inc. site. The Alexander Company of Madison, Wisconsin has a purchase option on the White Mill property; the agreement will expire March 3, 2021. The two companies recently took out an ad in the Danville Register & Bee illustrating their vision for the $575 million project, including a casino, 260-room hotel, 12 bars and restaurants, historical architecture, fitness center, meeting space, 2,000-seat entertainment venue, kayak river and indoor/outdoor water park.
With Rosie’s Gaming Emporium a possibility, it doesn’t matter if the casino referendum passes, because Danville will have gambling either way, said Councilman Lee Vogler. “For me, we chose the best project, period. I think Danville handled it best by not rushing into something and waiting until casino legislation was decided,” Vogler said.
Caesars’s $400 million casino resort would feature a gaming floor with 2,000 slots, 75 table games, 16 poker tables and a sportsbook, plus a 500-room hotel, 5,000-square-foot conference center, 2,500-seat live entertainment venue and restaurants and bars. It would create 1,300 jobs with competitive benefits packages and average pay between $35,000 and $47,000 annually, according to city officials.
