State moves closer to setting Hollywood casino opening date

COLUMBUS — State regulators are closing in on new opening dates for casinos in Toledo and Cleveland, but it remains to be seen which will be granted the honor of becoming Ohio’s first.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission intends to schedule the openings at least two weeks apart, but the original goals of Rock Caesars Ohio’s Horseshoe Cleveland Casino and Penn National Gaming’s Hollywood Toledo Casino to open in mid-March and April 1 respectively will not happen.

“We’ve had a number of face-to-face meetings with both operators and would expect to have a date soon for both locations,” commission Executive Director Matt Schuler said Wednesday.

He could have recommendations to the commission in time for its next meeting in two weeks, he said. The biggest delay at this point is the delivery and testing of slot machines. To date, none of the four casinos approved by voters in 2009 has been granted an operating license.

Both casinos are pushing to be first to open, Mr. Schuler said, but Penn spokesman Bob Tennenbaum downplayed that.

“Our desire is to open as quickly as we can,” he said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with anybody else. We want to get open as quickly as possible.”

Hollywood Toledo General Manager Richard St. Jean told the commission that he expects to get a final certificate of occupancy from the city of Toledo by March 15 allowing the remainder of its operations to move into the building on the East Toledo riverfront near Rossford.

Penn National Gaming, developer of casinos in Toledo and Columbus, cleared another potential hurdle for getting its license when it informed the commission that a principal with holding company Fortress Investment Group has turned his prior leave of absence into an outright resignation.

Daniel Mudd, who chief executive of Fortress, is under indictment by the Securities Exchange Commission in connection with his prior role with mortgage giant Fannie Mae. The casino commission formally removed Mr. Mudd from the list of people that it had demanded undergo background checks as part of the licensing process.

“The members of the commission had significant concerns about how a possible probity investigation would impact his suitability,” Mr. Schuler said. “We did not have to cross that bridge.”

The commission also heard an update from Rock on last week’s collapse of a portion of its construction at the Cincinnati casino that sent 13 construction workers to the hospital. One remains hospitalized with serious injuries.

The incident remains under investigation, but Rock has received approval to resume construction at some portions of the site.