Post by trackrat on Apr 5, 2012 17:06:38 GMT -5
From The Cleveland Plain Dealer:
"NORTHFIELD, Ohio -- Hard Rock International, owner of the famed restaurant chain, will help bring video slot machines and $275 million in development to the Northfield Park horseracing track.
Hard Rock, which also develops hotels and casinos, has formed a partnership with Brock Milstein, owner of the harness track, according to an announcement posted today on Northfield's website.
Plans call for a Hard Rock Cafe, steakhouse, buffet restaurant and conference facility. The development will result in 1,000 jobs, the announcement says.
Ohio voters amended the state constitution in 2009 to allow four stand-alone, full-service casinos now under construction in Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus and Cincinnati. The General Assembly voted to approve video slots at the state's seven horseracing tracks.
The Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, a joint venture between Dan Gilbert's Rock Gaming and Caesars Entertainment, is to open May 14.
Gilbert's joint venture controls Thistledown, located less than 10 miles north of Northfield Park in the village of North Randall, but has not disclosed its plans for the thoroughbred horse track. Gov. John Kasich's office recently confirmed that he and Gilbert's group have talked about moving the track to the Akron-Canton area, out of the Horseshoe's shadow.
The Ohio Roundtable, an anti-gambling group, filed suit in October in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, arguing that legislators overstepped their bounds when they approved the racetrack plan. Attorney General Mike DeWine is seeking to have the case dismissed, and oral arguments were to be heard today.
Slot machines are seen as a lifesaver for Ohio tracks, which have struggled to compete with border-state tracks that have the gambling as an added feature.
Northfield Park, on the border of Summit and Cuyahoga counties, opened in 1934 as Sportsman Park, intended for greyhound racing. That plan faltered, and the owner turned to auto racing.
Harness racing began in 1957. Brock Milstein's late father, Carl, George Steinbrenner and other investors bought the 84-acre site in 1972 for $7.5 million. "
"NORTHFIELD, Ohio -- Hard Rock International, owner of the famed restaurant chain, will help bring video slot machines and $275 million in development to the Northfield Park horseracing track.
Hard Rock, which also develops hotels and casinos, has formed a partnership with Brock Milstein, owner of the harness track, according to an announcement posted today on Northfield's website.
Plans call for a Hard Rock Cafe, steakhouse, buffet restaurant and conference facility. The development will result in 1,000 jobs, the announcement says.
Ohio voters amended the state constitution in 2009 to allow four stand-alone, full-service casinos now under construction in Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus and Cincinnati. The General Assembly voted to approve video slots at the state's seven horseracing tracks.
The Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, a joint venture between Dan Gilbert's Rock Gaming and Caesars Entertainment, is to open May 14.
Gilbert's joint venture controls Thistledown, located less than 10 miles north of Northfield Park in the village of North Randall, but has not disclosed its plans for the thoroughbred horse track. Gov. John Kasich's office recently confirmed that he and Gilbert's group have talked about moving the track to the Akron-Canton area, out of the Horseshoe's shadow.
The Ohio Roundtable, an anti-gambling group, filed suit in October in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, arguing that legislators overstepped their bounds when they approved the racetrack plan. Attorney General Mike DeWine is seeking to have the case dismissed, and oral arguments were to be heard today.
Slot machines are seen as a lifesaver for Ohio tracks, which have struggled to compete with border-state tracks that have the gambling as an added feature.
Northfield Park, on the border of Summit and Cuyahoga counties, opened in 1934 as Sportsman Park, intended for greyhound racing. That plan faltered, and the owner turned to auto racing.
Harness racing began in 1957. Brock Milstein's late father, Carl, George Steinbrenner and other investors bought the 84-acre site in 1972 for $7.5 million. "