Architect Peter Wilday of Reno, Nev., unveils a drawing Tuesday of the proposed Oxford County resort casino at a news confer-ence in Portland. The $150 million project is on the November ballot to determine whether the facility is permitted to move forward.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The chief architect of a proposed resort casino in western Maine’s Oxford County outlined design plans Tuesday, and the company said it hoped to announce a specific location for the $150 million project before the end of next week.
Officials of the Olympia Group unveiled a concept sketch of Oxford Highlands Resort-Spa-Casino in advance of a Nov. 4 statewide referendum that will determine whether the project will be allowed to go forward.
Architect Peter Wilday of Reno, Nev., said he was attempting to recreate the charm of an old New England village. “This isn’t a big WalMart box out there,” he said, citing such features as dormers, turrets, cornices, lots of brickwork and buildings of various sizes set amid clusters of mature trees.
The project, to be built in two phases, would include a 300-room hotel, a 30,000-square-foot conference center and 100,000 square feet of casino space that would accommodate table games and up to 1,500 slot machines, Wilday said. Other amenities would include a spa, three restaurants, and indoor and outdoor swimming pools, he said. A golf course could be added later.
Wilday, whose familiarity with Maine reflects the summers he spent as a child on Maranacook Lake in central Maine, said the casino and four-season resort would be the finest such facility on the East Coast. “It will be smaller. A lot smaller. But it will be the best.”
Las Vegas-based Olympia, which bought control of the venture from Evergreen Mountain Enterprises after its founder abandoned the campaign after legal problems, vowed Tuesday to pump $100 million into the project in the first year. An additional $50 million would be invested in the second phase of construction.
Wilday and spokeswoman Pat LaMarche said the turmoil in the financial markets would not affect the company’s ability to raise capital for the project.
“The company is very well-funded. They deal with projects of this size all the time,” Wilday said.
Wilday said his design concept is far different from that of Maine’s only other gambling palace, the $132 million Hollywood Slots that opened this summer in Bangor. Free from the constraints posed by an 8-acre urban parcel, Wilday said he could avoid a “monolithic” approach and blend the resort’s components in a villagelike setting.
The architect admitted it was unusual to try to come up with a design before a site is chosen. “We’re coming at this backward,” he acknowledged.
Dennis Bailey of Casinos NO! which has battled the expansion of gambling in Maine, was unimpressed by Olympia’s descriptions of the resort.
“Pretty pictures won’t change the fact that even the proponents of this casino bill call it a ‘mess,”’ he said, citing provisions that would lower the legal age to gamble and work in a casino and give the developer a 10-year monopoly on gambling facilities. LaMarche has promised to seek changes in the Legislature if the measure wins voter approval.
Olympia has been examining various locations for the resort and is close to a deal on a 25-acre site, LaMarche said. Noting that Mainers already have begun voting by absentee ballot, she said it was important to identify the site quickly. “We’re playing beat the clock as fast as we can,” she said.
On 10/1/08 at 7:47 AM,
MrNixxon wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
"Dennis Bailey of Casinos NO! which has battled the expansion of gambling in Maine, was unimpressed by Olympia’s descriptions of the resort."
I am actually unimpressed with Mr. Bailey. Lets see if the voters let this one go through or if it goes the way of the Washington County casino. They may actually get teh customer base in Oxford County. Things go full circle. There was a time when Maine sucked in the tourist dollar for spas and clinic/resorts by train. Now maybe it will be that way again...by air.
On 10/1/08 at 9:56 AM,
maineopine wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
This is actually a great plan: equal to the original Sanford Plan developed by Terrific Tom and crew. Maine was not ready at that time for a Casino Resort, but we are now: many thanks to Tom for paving the way.
Opponents act like they are proposing to set up Babylon. If it doesn't work out then the worst case scenario is we end up with a pretty abandoned building in the middle of Western Maine somewhere. We already have those: they are called mills. All moral arguments against the Resort fall apart.
I am all for it and if the people at Olympia are not successful in finding the right 25 acres for the resort then let us know how to reach you as I have a parcel that might work for this.
On 10/1/08 at 10:36 AM,
Bangorian wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
I think it's risky to expand gambling in Maine until we better understand its impact, regardless of how nice their building might look.
On 10/1/08 at 11:11 AM,
Sassy1 wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
Maine was just as ready for a casino when the Sanford one was voted on as they are now. Once the votes are counted on this one we will know if the majority of Mainers are against gambling or just against Native American prosperity.
On 10/1/08 at 12:31 PM,
swann2001 wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
Hmmm, let's see a Casino for Oxford but not one for Washington County, no bias here! We are just starting to see the tip of the Iceburg when a woman the other day was arrested for embezzeling money to fund her gambling habit at Hollywood Slots. Another woman told me she had been to Hollywood Slots the previous day with some friends from work and had a little luck. She went back the next day and lost every cent she had, plus had withdrawn even more from her credit card. She was in tears and said she didn't know what she was going to tell her husband because he was disabled and she was the breadwinner and now she was broke. I am sure there are dozens and dozens of others out there we haven't heard about yet who are going to suffer from the admitted lure of the chance for easy money. Easy for the Casinos at least. Sure they pay out a few thousand in Jackpots occasionally but rake in millions from the hard working people of Maine. I find it funny that Pat LaMarche who claims to be the embodiment of everything correct and good, now turns up as the head shuckster for another soaking of the Maine people, especially the ones who can least afford to lose the money. I guess the corruption that ineviteably follows such enterprizes has claimed it's first victim, but then I never did buy into her dog and pony show. Pass the chips and let the fun begin, aye Pat? It's not that I'm against all gambling myself, but I am against Hypocrisy and those who trash Bush and Republicans on a regular basis for supporting big business, and then turn around and lines thier own pockets with money that they know is coming from people who don't have the best interests of the average Mainer at heart. They are just trying to grab a piece of the gambling pie and don't really care who gets hurt in the process.
On 10/1/08 at 1:12 PM,
MrNixxon wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
swann2001 would it make you feel better if they lost their money in Conn.? Gambling has the abilkity to be addicting. Just like alcohol ot video games. How about the Maine Retirement Plan AKA the lottery. Ever hear of self control or will power? Most people dont screw up then cry about it and want someone to fix it. Short of Wall Street, Chrysler (at least they paid it all back), etc. If we try to stop anything that can be a problem, cause an addiction, or ruin, Lord help us, someones self esteem we may as well tear down any road into the state. Hey maybe thatr's not such a bad idea. We all know there is double standards. Look at Bangor OK having slots but anywhere else be a bad thing in the Govs eyes. Get over it before someone says that your whining is bad for the state and bans that.
On 10/1/08 at 2:36 PM,
glenna wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
I laugh at the "No folk" whose argument is that some of the profits would go to the owners in Nevada - as though some of the profits of the Bank of America and Wells Fargo banks (as an example) in Maine don't go to those corporations' corporate offices outside Maine - or most of the major car dealerships or any other large businesses doing business in Maine. Where in Maine are there year-round fold very many people who will/do invest mucho millions to build and develop and run large businesses here anymore?
But Sassy1 is right with her question re: how people see this opportunity for Oxford County v Washington County's Native Americans. Who says we don't have racial prejudice right heyah in good old Maine. Got to keep that peckin' order, doncha know.
On 10/1/08 at 9:25 PM,
maineopine wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
I'd bet money that the Resort Casino will be coming to a town near you.
Post a comment about this story
You must be logged in to post a comment.
click here to log in.
