Casino news from http://news.enquirer.com/
Penn National Gaming Inc. has beefed up its expansion plans for Argosy Casino in Lawrenceburg, increasing its budget by $44 million to $310 million and adding a 30-table poker room, the company disclosed in its quarterly financial report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week.
It has also pushed back the planned opening of an all-new and much-larger floating casino from the second quarter of 2008 to the fourth quarter of that year.
Argosy, which was acquired last year by Penn National of Reading, Pa., had initially said the project would cost "more than $150,000" when it announced it two years ago. Its most recent previous plan, as outlined in its annual report earlier this year, had a $266 million price tag.
Penn plans to replace the existing three-level barge, which contains 74,300 square feet of gambling space with about 2,400 slot machines and 86 table games, with the new two-story, 250,000-square-foot barge expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2008. It will have room for up to 4,000 gambling positions - at slot machines and gaming tables - on the main level and another 400 on the second level, along with restaurants and other facilities, it said.
The project also includes a new 1,500-space parking garage that's now expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2007 rather than the second quarter. Infrastructure upgrades will make access to the casino more convenient, it said.
The increased $310 million budget also reflects the current estimate of construction and environmental costs, Penn said.
Argosy is already the largest of the three riverboat casinos in the Greater Cincinnati market and accounts for more than half of their total wagers and gambling revenues. Its existing facilities include a 300-room hotel, an entertainment pavilion and lounge, three restaurants, an 1,800-space parking garage, and a 1,700-space remote parking lot.
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