PORTLAND – The Las Vegas company seeking to build a casino resort in Oxford County unveiled artist renderings of the project Tuesday, explaining their design was aimed at blending in to the New England architecture landscape.

Voters on Nov. 4 will decide whether to legalize a casino for the western Maine county. The campaign supporting the proposal was taken over several weeks ago by The Olympia Group.

Olympia says the casino resort – now named “Oxford Highlands” – would create up to 800 jobs and put revenues into state coffers. The company has not identified a specific location for the resort. Opponents say the jobs would be of low quality, most of the revenues would travel out of state and social problems would increase if the casino referendum passes.

On Tuesday, Olympia officials showed designs to the media during a news conference in Portland. Peter Wilday, executive architect, said he and company officials studied examples of regional architecture before settling on a design theme. One print from a magazine depicting a painting of Rockport Harbor in 1919 was particularly influential in the resort’s design theme, he said.

“The one word that sticks with me is ‘charming,’ ” Wilday said. “Our direction is charming New England village.”

The rendering showed a development with red brick and towers, large trees and a spread-out campus containing both single-story and multi-story buildings. Part of the concept was to appear as if the campus grew over several hundred years, expanding slowly, said Wilday.

“It’s intended to be somewhat eclectic,” said Wilday.

Campaign spokeswoman Pat LaMarche said supporters hope to announce a site for the casino by the end of next week. Olympia wants to have papers signed agreeing to buy a property, should the question pass this November. The company has several possibilities, she said, all over the county.

The director of a group opposed to casinos in Maine called the artist renderings “a nice diversion.”

“Pretty pictures are like campaign promises – there’s nothing in the bill that requires them to build what they’re advertising today,” said Dennis Bailey, executive director of Casinos No!. “Not to say they won’t, (but) it’s important to remember that this is a campaign promise.”

Bailey noted that Olympia officials have called the bill “flawed,” and are pushing to have the question approved and then have the Legislature fix it.

“I think they’re asking the voters too much,” he said, “to give them the key to a castle that we don’t know where it’s located or what it’s going to look like.”

The overall site would consist of about 25 acres. The project would be built in two phases with the first starting “immediately,” if approved by voters, Wilday said. Phase one would consist of $100 million of development, including between 60,000 and 70,000 square feet in the casino, 10,000 to 20,000 square feet in a conference center, 70,000 to 75,000 square feet in hotel space, 5,000 square feet in a spa and about 30,000 square feet in restaurant space.

The first phase would include 125 hotel rooms and suites, the casino with 1,200 slots, about 20 gaming tables and a poker room, three to four casual and fine dining restaurants, a bar and lounge, a large indoor pool and other attractions.

The second phase of the project would proceed when Olympia determined the market was ready, said Wilday. It would include an extra 175 hotel rooms and suites, an expanded casino floor with up to an additional 300 slots, expanded meeting and conference space and an additional outdoor pool and expanded spa and fitness center.

“We want the locals to be proud, all of Maine to be proud of this,” he said.

Wilday said designers would be taking environmental building practices into account. The offerings beyond gambling, such as the spa, convention center, lounge and restaurants, were aimed at attracting people to the resort, Wilday said.

“It’s all about entertainment,” he said “This charming New England village will be a high-intensity casino.”