Churchill Downs Seeks Casino Approval

LOUISIANA – As reported by the Louisiana Times-Picayune: "Now that its first New Orleans racing season is almost over, Churchill Downs Inc. has begun seeking zoning approvals to build a casino at the Fair Grounds Race Course that would house as many as 700 slot machines.

"Although voters approved the idea of slots at the track in a referendum in the fall of 2003, some in the nearby Bayou St. John neighborhood are worried about security, bright lights, traffic and noise. Churchill has asked to keep the casino open well into the night -- possibly 24 hours a day.

"Neighborhood leaders say that how the casino would operate is unusually sensitive because it would be the only one in the state in a residential, historically significant neighborhood.

"…Getting slots at the Fair Grounds is a top priority for Churchill, a Louisville, Ky., horse racing company. Slot referendums at the company's tracks in California and Florida have failed even though the company spent millions of dollars on lobbying. Those failures mean that for now, New Orleans is the company's only shot at achieving its goal of developing a racetrack casino.

"…In recent weeks, the track hired a community relations director who has been busy working on a 'neighborhood appreciation' day next week and has mailed invitations to 2,500 to 3,000 households in the area. The new director, Stacy Simms, is a community affairs veteran of the mayoral administrations of Marc Morial and Ray Nagin.

"…And in its most concrete move, Churchill filed its architectural drawings for the slots casino and its requests to make the requisite zoning changes with the New Orleans City Planning Commission last week…"