Scarborough Downs may seek more time, space

SCARBOROUGH – Scarborough Downs and its partner are making plans to ask the Legislature not only to provide more time to find a host community willing to accept slot machines but also to expand the region where a racino could be located in southern Maine.

If Westbrook and Saco reject a racino in separate referendums, Scarborough Downs and its partner, Penn National Gaming, will ask the Legislature to change the racino law when lawmakers reconvene on Jan. 7.

The companies want to overturn two key provisions of the Nov. 4 referendum requiring a host community to approve slots by Dec. 31 and for the host community to be located within 5 miles of the existing track.

The companies hope that either Westbrook or Saco will vote to accept a racetrack with slot machines, or racino. But the partnership doesn’t hinge upon those votes, Penn National Gaming spokesman D. Eric Schippers said.

“We’ve formed a partnership for the long haul,” Schippers said.

Scarborough Downs contends it was put at a disadvantage because of the way the law was drafted by lawyers for Shawn Scott and Capital Seven LLC, who have won a contract to open a racino in at the Bangor Raceway.

While the law was being drafted, Scarborough Downs asked that Dec. 30, 2004, be the deadline for community approval. Scott responded by restricting the window of opportunity to year’s end, Rolston said. The law also stipulates that slot machines must be within a 5-mile perimeter of the original track.

Schippers said local approval in Saco or Westbrook would start the process. He said it is way too soon to decide which city would make a better host.

“It’s a long road that has to be pursued,” he said. “We have no idea what the ultimate outcome will be until after the referendum. There’s too many hypotheticals,” he said.

The agreement reached between Scarborough Downs and Penn National calls for the out-of-state company to provide slot machines for the next 99 years to the 53-year-old racetrack.