Fairgrounds Gaming site may get bigger
State officials are considering a proposal for a major expansion of gaming facilities at the Erie County Fairgrounds in Hamburg.
The proposal would actually decrease the number of video lottery terminals available for people to gamble on but would more than double the size of the area devoted to gaming, restaurants and entertainment.
“Our feeling is that people need more space to move around in. . . . We want to offer more in the way of restaurants and entertainment, including concerts,” said Dennis R. Lang, chief executive officer of the Buffalo Trotting Association, which holds the gaming license for the facility.
Lang confirmed for The Buffalo News that an application for expanding and renovating the Hamburg gaming center was filed last month. He said it has been in the discussion stages for more than six months.
He said the proposal would increase the area used for gaming and related amenities at the fairgrounds site from 25,000 square feet to about 55,000. But the number of video lottery terminals — the modern version of the slot machine — would decrease from the current 940 to 883.
Fairgrounds Gaming officials have made a “rough estimate” that the expansion and renovation project would cost around $23 million, Lang said.
The proposed plan calls for expansion of the gaming center, and moving it to a new location on the 265- acre fairgrounds site, which is also the site of the popular annual county fair.
So far, the state has not ruled on the proposal or given a timetable on when its decision will be made. State Lottery spokesman John Charlson said the proposal is under review, but he declined to comment further.
“We’re hopeful it will be approved. We’re hoping for a call from Yolanda Vega,” Lang said.
In March 2004, the region’s first “racino” — a betting hybrid featuring gambling terminals and the Buffalo Raceway harness racing track — opened at the Hamburg property off McKinley Parkway. Buffalo-based Delaware North was hired as the operator of the gaming facility.
On the first day, gamblers waited in line for the machines to open, and in its first six days of operation, Fairgrounds Gaming & Raceway earned nearly $1 million.
The big opening numbers dropped sharply after the initial surge, but Lang said Friday that “our gaming center makes money, while our race track loses it.” He did not give specific figures.
There is a feeling that the current gaming facility is “cramped,” and that it would benefit from more room between video terminals, better restaurants and more entertainment offerings, Lang said.
Lang is also the CEO of the Erie County Agricultural Society, the not-for-profit corporation that owns the fairgrounds property.
