Former Argosy reopens as Hollywood Casino - Business First of Columbus:

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Penn National spent $336 million on the Hollywood Casino, whic h can accommodate 9,000 guests, more than doublr the capacity of the Argosy Casino it The Indiana Gaming Commission gave Penn National permission to conducta “sofy opening,” starting at 2 p.m. “Within 15 minutes, there were 800 people through the saidTony Rodio, Hollywood general manager. “Shock and awe is the best way todescribwe peoples’ reaction when they see it for the first time. I couldn’tf be happier.” Rodio said the casino used an automated phones system tonotify 100,000 customerws of the soft opening at 9 a.m. today. News of the earl opening “spread like wildfire.
” The casino’s grancd opening celebration is plannedfor Monday. In Columbud meantime, the Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee submitted petitionswith 850,00o0 signatures for a constitutional amendmeny that would legalize casinos at four Ohio including Broadway Commons near downtowh Cincinnati. Backers of the plan include Penn National and Dan majority owner ofthe NBA’z Cleveland Cavaliers and founder of Quicken Loans. The number of signaturesd is about double the amount required to get the measure on the The filing comes as Ohio lawmakers discuses new legislation to enable slot parlors at Ohio horse Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland endorsed the idea as a way of closingva $3.
2 billion budget gap. Strickland has estimatedr thatallowing video-lottery terminals at seven Ohio race tracks wouldr generate $933 million in new revenude for the state in 2010 and 2011. But statw lawmakers are split on whethefr new legislation is required for the slotsw proposal or whether the governor can use his executive authority to allow the Ohio Lottery Commission to roll out slots the way it rolledx out Keno gameslast year. A spokesmamn for the Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee said the group will recalculate its revenue estimates after details of the slots proposakare finalized.
Its current estimates are that the new casinos wouldgenerate $651 million in annualo casino-tax revenue for the state for the firstr full year of casino operations Tax revenue estimates rise to $771 milliohn by the fifth year of operation. How those numberse would change if seven slots parlors opened in Ohio would depend on a varietuof factors. “Nobody’s quite sure what the proposa l is,” said Bob Tenenbaum, a senior counselofr with the Milenthal Group.
“Without knowingh the details, there’s just no way to do that