In the American state of Nebraska and the Fonner Park thoroughbred horseracing track has reportedly applied for formal permission to operate casino gaming via its envisioned Grand Island Casino Resort facility.
According to a Wednesday report from local television broadcaster KSNB-TV, the enterprise located on the outskirts of Grand Island has submitted an official application to the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission that would allow it to construct a $100 million track-side venue featuring a 116-room boutique hotel reminiscent of the region’s many grain silos. The source detailed that this proposed development will be run by Elite Casino Resorts LLC and is to also come complete with a 400-space parking garage, four restaurants, a sports bar and a 37,000 sq ft gaming floor offering a selection of some 650 slots as well as 20 gaming tables.
Constituent consent:
Voters in Nebraska reportedly passed a local constitutional referendum in November of 2020 so as to bring Las Vegas-style gambling to the midwestern state’s many horseracing tracks. This eventuality was purportedly almost immediately jumped on by the WarHorse Gaming LLC enterprise of the federally-recognized Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska as it applied for permission to bring casinos to the cities of Omaha and Lincoln.
Interim intent:
The Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission was recently granted the ability to confer provisional casino licenses and Fonner Park reportedly confirmed that it intends to open a temporary gambling-friendly facility should its application be approved. The enterprise purportedly disclosed that this would be followed by the official 2025 premiere of its Grand Island Casino Resort following a little over two years of construction.
Sportsbetting sentiment:
Fonner Park reportedly explained that the finished Grand Island Casino Resort is to additionally feature a gift shop, a rooftop terrace and an outdoor pool alongside a retail sportsbook with the mobile-friendly Elite Sportsbook-branded service from Elite Casino Resorts LLC already licensed by regulators in Colorado and Iowa. The Hall County venue purportedly finished by noting that it will begin accepting new applications for employment once its temporary casino license is formally granted by the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission.
Expeditious expectation:
For its part and Elite Casino Resorts LLC is already responsible in the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort, Rhythm City Casino Resort and Grand Falls Casino and Golf Resort venues in the neighboring state of Iowa and it reportedly has plans to debut its 116-room Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort near the southern Illinois city of Carbondale sometime next year. The operator’s Chief Executive Officer, Dan Kehl, purportedly divulged that he is now hoping for a quick approval from the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission so that his firm can begin running the temporary Fonner Park casino by as soon as the autumn.
Kehl reportedly stated…
“Should approval be received, Grand Island Casino Resort will open as a temporary casino inside the existing Fonner Park facility by late-2022 with 300 slots, five gaming tables and a grab-and-go dining option.”
