Early this week workers started breaking down the 40-year-old concrete bleachers at Pompano Park, in Broward County, Florida, tearing out walls and twisting metal to make way for a 157,000-square-foot casino that will house four restaurants, shops, a sports bar and state of the arts slot machines. In fact, this is no ordinary job, because more than carrying out the voter mandate to bring slot machines to Broward County and the State of Florida, it opens the way for other counties in the state to follow on this brave initiative, because while the Broward County voters were approving casinos, a few miles away Miami-Dade was going the other way. Next time, it should not be so.

At the track, Alan Solomon, executive vice president of Isle of Capri Casinos, which owns the harness track in Pompano Beach, simply said: "We think it will be a first-class facility." In this way, Pompano Park becomes the first pari-mutuel in Florida to become the first racino for Las Vegas-style machines. As initial investment plans for the track were in the US$150 million, for an entertainment mecca with nightclubs, hotels, and even a water park, the sum is currently under review while accountants work out the revenue margins available owing to the restrictions imposed by the Florida Legislature.

The state legislature has imposed restrictions on the four pari-mutuels approved for gambling in the state, limiting them to 1,500 machines per complex, as well as a 50 percent tax on all profits generated by the slots. As construction also gets under way in at least two other venues allowed to set up slots, Hollywood Greyhound Track and Gulfstream in Hallandale Beach, executives believe gambling will begin in Broward County within six months. The prospects for Florida gambling after the next mid term elections surely look brighter. (E-01.19.06)

© Copyright 2006 CasinoCompendium



>>> return to archives
>>> return to frontpage