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How many gamblers? Well form estimates 4,000
Dec 04, 2010 (The Columbus Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Did Columbus' casino just shrink?
Since Penn National Gaming first proposed it, company officials have said that their casino would serve an average of 10,000 gamblers per day.
But on their application to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to drill water wells to serve the casino, they list a much-lower number -- 4,000 per day -- on the line for "No. of visitors/customers."
Bob Tenenbaum, a spokesman for Penn National, said it's essentially a typographical error: The engineers who submitted the application meant to say that there would be about 4,000 people in the casino at any one time.
That number wasn't used to calculate the amount of water needed each day, he said. It also doesn't change the company's projection that 10,000 people per day will come to gamble, nor does it change its revenue estimates.
In a detailed breakdown of the water usage at the proposed casino, the well application lists 4,009 slot machines, 240 seats for poker, a 717-seat restaurant, 245 seats at bars and 500 hotel rooms, among other amenities. Penn National says it will need 183,337 gallons of water per day to serve the facility.
"Those are the numbers that have been used consistently," Tenenbaum said.
If it's just a math error, the company can correct it, said Erin Strouse, an EPA spokeswoman.
"I'm sure we would take into consideration all the information they've provided us about the demand," she said. "That review is ongoing."
Experts say the limestone aquifer under western Franklin County where the casino is to be built could support wells producing up to 300,000 gallons of water per day.
Penn National is negotiating with Columbus over annexing the casino site to the city. The company, after saying last year that it needed no public help, has now listed more than $10 million in requests for tax breaks and other aid. Penn National officials say city leaders promised to help defray the cost of moving the casino site from the Arena District to a spot in Franklin Township near W. Broad Street and I-270.
Columbus leaders say they were promised that Penn National would annex the site to the city and have said that, although they already are committed to providing sewer service, they will not extend water lines to the casino unless it annexes. Wells would take away water as the city's main bargaining chip.
Estimates of the tax revenue the city would receive from the casino annually are $24 million if it is in the city and $16 million if it's not.
dcaruso@dispatch.com
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http://www.columbusdispatch.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
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