AUGUSTA – If all goes as planned, bettors could be playing the slots in Bangor by the end of this year.

Penn National Gaming Inc. representatives on Thursday announced plans to open a temporary gaming facility with 475 slot machines at Miller’s Restaurant, a local landmark overlooking the Bangor Waterfront.

The company also filed a completed slot operator license application, a move made possible by the March 31 passage of LD 90, a bill that will enable state gambling regulators to keep confidential certain information state investigators gather for licensing purposes.

The Pennsylvania-based racing and gaming company is purchasing the restaurant for $3.8 million. The purchase includes the off-track betting operation now located in the restaurant’s lower level, which will move into the recently refurbished grandstand at Bangor Raceway, located at city-owned Bass Park.

The transaction, expected to close this summer, is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including the Maine Harness Racing Commission and the Maine Gambling Control Board.

Construction at Miller’s will begin in May or June, Steven Snyder, Penn’s senior vice president for corporate development, said Thursday. Barring any snags with the licensing process, Penn plans to have its temporary facility up and running by November or December, he said during a presentation before the Maine Gambling Control Board.

The temporary facility is expected to bring about 100 jobs to Bangor, Snyder said.

Word that slots finally are coming – nearly two years after Maine voters authorized them at commercial racetracks – was hailed as good news by many.

“This is a great day for the board,” said Rep. Patricia Blanchette, D-Bangor, a member of the legislative committee that has jurisdiction over gambling and that handled many of the legal intricacies related to the project. “This is a big move for the city of Bangor, and it’s a gigantic leap for the state of Maine.”

Bangor Council Chairman Frank Farrington, who on Thursday was in Nova Scotia on city business, issued the following statement:

“This is good news for Bangor and the region. Since the referendum vote in 2003, the most frequent question we have been asked is when will Penn National open a racino in Bangor. Now we know. We look forward to continuing our close working relationship with Penn as they plan both this temporary facility and their permanent complex.”

Gov. John Baldacci, a Bangor native, initially opposed the racino. But after slots were approved in a November 2003 statewide vote, he put the project on a fast track by naming the advisory panel that ultimately became the Gambling Control Board.

From a cell phone on the interstate, Baldacci said Thursday: “I’m very pleased that they’ve made the announcement and the commitment to get this up and running. I just really appreciate the board and the effort by everybody in the community and around the state.”

Michael Peters, a gambling board member from Dixfield, termed the breakthrough “fantastic.”

“I think it’s very excellent,” board member Jean Deighan of Bangor said. She said she was “a little sad” about losing Miller’s, but added, “Good things are coming.”

George McHale, chairman of the gambling panel and of the Maine Harness Racing Commission, said he now could be out and about without “constantly being asked when the slots are coming.”

Dennis Bailey of the anti-gambling group CasinosNo!, however, was not enthused. He said the racino’s revenues would come at the expense of other local businesses.

Penn projects that the 475 slots heading for Miller’s will generate $20 million to $30 million in annual revenues. Of that total, $3 million to $4 million will go to the state, the city will see at least $1.1 million, and $8 million to $10 million will be divided among the beneficiaries named in the original slots bill. That list includes harness horsemen, agricultural fairs, low-cost drugs for the elderly and disabled, and administrative expenses, including costs connected with programs dealing with gambling addictions.

The temporary facility will serve as Penn’s base of operations until its permanent facility in the vicinity of Bass Park for up to 1,500 slots is completed. Though the company had hoped to begin construction on that facility this summer, Penn’s timetable has been altered by a number of events outside of the company’s purview, according to Snyder.

Reasons for the delay include the need to enact legislation protecting personal and proprietary information so that the licensing process could be completed. In addition, the company still is exploring options on where to locate its permanent facility.

Though current plans call for building the complex at Bass Park, Penn still is exploring its site options in an effort to minimize disruption of ongoing activities and events at Bass Park, including the Bangor State Fair and annual basketball tournaments. Penn also needs to obtain all the necessary state approvals. The construction timetable for the permanent complex is 12 to 18 months.

The exterior of the Miller’s building will see few changes, Snyder said. Some of the windows will be removed to create more wall space for slots. Plans also call for an elevator to bring the facility into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

And for those wondering, ATM services will be available on site, though not on the gaming floor. There already is a cash machine in the OTB area and another may be installed in the lobby, Snyder said.

Most of the slots, about 380 machines, will be located on the restaurant’s ground level, until now home of Miller’s famed all-you-can-eat buffet, a venue that’s been popular for decades with everyone from local families to tour buses to sports teams in Bangor for championship games. The remainder will go into the space now occupied by the OTB operation.

In turn, the OTB will move to the grandstand at city-owned Bangor Raceway, which will shift to a year-round venue also offering simulcast service and a 27-day live racing season that runs from May to July.

The top floor at the Miller’s building will house some of Penn’s offices and will include space for state gambling regulators, though Snyder said the company likely will house some of its support functions, such as human resources, in office space off site.