The site for the new casino to be located in western Maine has been selected. An area known as Pigeon Hill will be the location of the 100-acre, $165 million project.
The first phase of development will involve the construction of a 65,000 square foot building that will contain slot machines, gaming tables, and a restaurant, said representatives from Black Bear Entertainment, the casino’s developer.
After this stage of the project is complete, a 100-room, four-story hotel will be built, followed by another 100 rooms and a spa facility.
Maine voters approved the project during last week’s election, and the casino will be the state’s first with table games. However, the measure passed with less than a percentage point and opponents of the casino’s development are asking for a recount. If the recount is granted, it may slow down construction of the casino, but Jim Boldebook, a Black Bear Entertainment partner, said the company might break ground by the spring.
Black Bear Entertainment’s owners say that the casino project will create around 2,700 new jobs for the community, and that this is their main focus for the project, not making large amounts of money from the casino itself.
“I’m not just in it for the money,” said Bob Bahre, one of Black Bear Entertainment’s partners. “I’m in it for the jobs.”
Rob Lally, another Black Bear Entertainment partner, believes the group will have no trouble lining up financing for the casino project, however, Casinos No! is not sure this will be the case. Casinos No! said that Black Bear Entertainment still needs to find a casino partner that will actually run and operate the casino, and one will be hard to come by if the casino will not have a monopoly.
