BANGOR – The project budget for Penn National Gaming Inc.’s permanent gaming complex has grown from $72 million to $90 million, members of the company’s development team said Wednesday during a briefing for city officials.

“That’s not driven by our development agreement with the city; that’s our commitment to Bangor,” Penn National spokesman Eric Schippers said after a presentation for members of the City Council’s business and economic development committee.

“That’s what we believe it’ll take to do it right,” Schippers said.

The proposed permanent gambling complex would replace the interim Hollywood Slots at Bangor facility that the company opened in November with 475 slot machines at the former Miller’s Restaurant building on Main Street.

The new, larger Hollywood Slots is slated to open in mid-2008, Hollywood Slots’ General Manager Jon Johnson said.

The new gambling facility will include, among other things, a 116,000-square-foot gaming facility housing 1,475 slots, a 1,500-space four-story parking garage. Dependent upon the racino’s take, a seven-story hotel, comparable to a Marriott Courtyard will be added, Penn National representatives noted.

Though company officials noted that they would prefer not to have to get into the hotel business, it is a requirement of the development pact Penn National negotiated with the city.

The gambling operation has to hit the $120 million mark in annual adjusted gross revenues to trigger the addition of the hotel, Schippers said, adding that there is no way to predict when that might occur. To that end, a firm cost figure has yet to be developed.

Steve Snyder, Penn National’s senior vice president for corporate development, said the company’s priority right now is to get the gambling, entertainment and parking facilities up and running.

“We don’t look at the hotel as something we absolutely have to have,” he said.

Snyder also said that Penn National was open to the notion of having another developer take on the hotel, though he noted it might be a tough sell.

“I can’t imagine that if we came in clean we’d ever elect to build a hotel behind a parking garage,” Snyder said. In addition, development team members said the hotel would not be visible from Main Street because the land slopes down toward the river.

During their briefing for city officials, Penn National’s development team presented some of the details contained in the master plan for the nearly 8-acre site, referred to in city documents as Riverside Block.

The block encompasses all the land between Lincoln and Dutton streets and from Main Street to the railroad tracks along the Penobscot River. Penn National negotiated to acquire the parcels making up the block from their owners for a total of about $7 million.

Besides slot machines, the new complex will include a full-service bar with entertainment including dancing, a new simulcast facility for off-track betting, a 350-seat buffet restaurant, a 125-seat specialty restaurant, two smaller private dining rooms and what planners called a “creamery,” which will offer coffee, lattes, sweet rolls and other light fare.

The exterior will be done up in shades of cream and tan and lots of glass, noted Scott Norman of Urban Design, one of the consultants working on the project. He described the palette as “very clean-looking.”

A two-story semi-circular glass tower is proposed for the end of the building closest to Interstate 395, where the gambling will take place. The parking operation will be located on the in-town side of the property.

“We see it as a gateway to the city,” Norman said of the complex.

Because of the sheer size of the project, designers will add interest to what otherwise would be blank brick and concrete walls by using a mix of textures, landscaping and sidewalk improvements, plans that were welcomed by city councilors.

Councilor Geoffrey Gratwick commended the design team for paying close attention to aesthetics, adding that he has been concerned the city would end up with a structure that “would look like it was born in Las Vegas.”

“So far, so good,” he said.

Councilor Gerry Palmer agreed.

“I think the tie in here [with the rest of the city, especially downtown] is very good,” he said “What I see here is very spectacular.”

The company’s plans will be the subject of a Maine Department of Environmental Protection informational meeting set for 7 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers at City Hall.

In addition to providing updated information about the project, the meeting is meant to offer the public an opportunity to comment on the project as Penn National prepares to apply for a state Site Location of Development Act permit, one of several state and local approvals needed before construction can begin.

The SLODA permit will address such project aspects as site lighting and landscaping, storm drainage, utilities and vehicle and pedestrian access.