AUGUSTA – Backers of a proposed casino in Oxford County said Monday a casino brings another kind of entertainment to Maine that would complement offerings in tourist destinations such as Bar Harbor and Old Orchard Beach.
Dean Harrold, vice chairman of Olympia Gaming, and Pat LaMarche, spokeswoman for the Yes on 2 campaign, told members of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel editorial board that they plan to bring 800 new jobs to western Maine.
The jobs will pay an average of $35,000 a year and all full-time jobs will come with benefits, such as health care, Harrold said.
“Right now, America has become the adult Disneyland in the world,” said Harrold, a former president of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. “It’s entertainment. It’s like spending your money going to the movies.”
Voters will be asked Nov. 4 to decide whether to allow Olympia Gaming to open a casino somewhere in Oxford County. LaMarche said the exact location would be announced in 10 days.
Casino opponents CasinosNo! recently responded to television commercials posted by supporters with an ad of their own on YouTube.
“The Oxford County casino is a good deal for Las Vegas, but a bad one for Maine,” Dennis Bailey, executive director of CasinosNo!, said in a statement.
In mid-September, Olympia Gaming of Las Vegas announced it acquired control of Evergreen Mountain Enterprises LLC, the company proposing to build a casino in Oxford County. Olympia Gaming, a privately held company, also owns Casino Fandango in Carson City, Nev.
LaMarche said if voters approve the casino, it would be up to the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee to make changes to the law. The company wants the language amended so that no casino employees can be younger than 21.
Harrold said the casino would be a resort with good food, convention space, entertainment, a spa and indoor and outdoor pools.
“This will be a resort of which a piece of the resort will be gambling,” he said.
The casino, which would be called Oxford Highlands, would give the state 39 percent of proceeds. In addition, 2 percent would go to the town in which it is located, and 1 percent would go to Oxford County.
Olympia Gaming is planning to spend $100 million on the first phase of the project, and would spend additional money on a second phase, Harrold said.
LaMarche said while some people prefer to golf or kayak when they visit Maine, others would like the opportunity to visit a casino.
“We don’t have to worry having a resort will change Maine’s identity,” said LaMarche, a former gubernatorial candidate for the Maine Green Independent Party.
This isn’t the first time in recent years that voters have been asked to decide whether to allow an expansion of gambling in Maine.
In 2003, voters supported a ballot question to allow a casino with horse racing in Bangor – called a racino – but rejected a proposal for a casino in Sanford.
In 2007, voters rejected a proposal to build a racino in Washington County.
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