OTB bandwagon getting crowded Four applicants make pitches

Off-track betting in Maine has come full circle.

Three years ago, Scarborough Downs could not find a municipality that would sanction an OTB parlor. It was too radical a venture for Winthrop, Augusta, Lewiston and Old Orchard Beach. They all turned it down.

Now, with Charles and Jim Day in Lewiston and Peter Martin in Waterville operating successful OTB parlors, gambling on horse racing has again become respectable. Everyone is trying to jump on the simulcasting bandwagon.

On Thursday, the Maine State Harness Racing Commission heard 6 1/2 hours of testimony at the Bangor Civic Center from four applicants seeking approval to locate an off-track betting parlor in the Bangor area.

The commission first approved an operational license for James Nevers, doing business as Champs Grill and Tap in Presque Isle. That now expands OTB into northern Maine.

Thursday’s commission meeting was the final step in the application and selection process for locating an OTB parlor in the Bangor area after both Bangor and Brewer had given municipal approval for OTB. The meeting was to obtain testimony that would allow the commission to make a decision on an OTB license for the Bangor area.

After the testimony was completed on Thursday, the MSHRC opted to delay making a final decision until it had a chance to study all of the testimony and to study its options. A decision will be made when the commission reconvenes at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14, at the Bangor Civic Center.

Martin, an applicant for an OTB parlor at The Cottage in Brewer, asked if the commission would exercise the option to issue licenses for more than one OTB parlor in the Bangor area.

“I’m opposed to such an idea,” Martin said. “The area can support one off-track wagering parlor, but it certainly is not large enough to support two such ventures. I don’t think that was the legislative intent when the bill was written, and I wouldn’t be interested in any arrangement such as that.”

In the end, commission members Diann Perkins, John Cox, Richard Duncan and Gerry LaMarre agreed with Martin’s assessment and said that if it came to a vote they would not support multiple licenses in Bangor.

It was a day of heavy hitters. All of the applicants brought out the experts who testified on behalf of their locations and why they should be selected.

Shane Bacon, a partner in the Legends Restaurant, along with owner Frank Jordon and partner Charles Amsden of Newport, told commissioners their application met all the criteria and would be an asset in helping the city develop the Penobscot waterfront, particularly during the summer tourist season.

Martin told commissioners he fully supports live harness racing as a paramount issue, as did all applicants. He said he had discussed the live racing issue with Fred Nichols, the operator of Bangor Raceway for the 1994 season. Martin, a two-time applicant for OTB in the Bangor area, indicated his operation would utilize between 70 and 80 full-time and part-time people and generate an annual payroll of approximately $500,000. His application is for The Cottage, a now-shuttered restaurant on Route 1A in Brewer.

Dick Catell and Mark Wellman of Marketing Media and Wellman, representing Pardners’ Western Food and Fun in the Bangor Mall, told the commissioners their restaurant will have OTB seating for 140 with 150 parking spaces in front and and additional 400 adjacent to Pardners’.

Pardners’ location, according to Wellman and Bangor Mall manager Roy Daigle, would have the potential to tap a whole new horse racing audience from customers at the mall.

The final presenters were Larry Mahaney and Jim and Charlie Day of The Inside Track, located in the former Bonanza Restaurant on Union Street. Mahaney is 50 percent stockholder in the partnership with the Days each carrying 25 percent of the stock. Both Mahaney and Charlie Day have made previous offers to Bangor to operate Bangor Raceway. Both offers were rejected.

A detailed presentation by Jim Day included graphics of the new facade of the Union Street location and several renovations scheduled for the interior of the building should the commission approve their application.

Day also argued that live racing in Bangor must be maintained. The Lewiston location opened last October, and Day said there were two areas to which he would pay particular attention – placement of the television monitors and racing programs.

“If they can’t see it or can’t read it,” Day concluded, “they will not wager.”