In the American state of Nebraska and Elite Casino Resorts LLC is reportedly next week set to break ground on a temporary casino for the Fonner Park thoroughbred horseracing track that will eventually offer a selection of approximately 300 slots.

According to a Saturday report from a source, work on building the interim facility is scheduled to start from September 7 following the conclusion of this year’s edition of the ongoing Nebraska State Fair. This project is subsequently due to be finished in November to purportedly give the 220-acre complex a makeshift casino also hosting a number of blackjack and craps-friendly gaming tables and a restaurant.

Public pronouncement:

Voters in Nebraska reportedly passed a local constitutional referendum in November of 2020 so as to allow horseracing tracks in ‘The Cornhusker State’ to offer a range of Las Vegas-style gambling entertainment. This significant alteration purportedly prompted Elite Casino Resorts LLC to apply for permission to bring its $100 million Grand Island Casino Resort venue to the Hall County facility complete with a 37,000 sq ft gaming floor offering a selection of some 650 slots as well as 20 gaming tables.

Significant scheme:

Elite Casino Resorts LLC is already responsible for the Grand Falls Casino and Golf Resort, Rhythm City Casino Resort and Riverside Casino and Golf Resort venues in the neighboring state of Iowa and reportedly has plans to debut its 116-room Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort near the southern Illinois city of Carbondale sometime next year. The operator purportedly disclosed that it is subsequently looking to premiere its track-side Grand Island Casino Resort development in 2025 furthermore embracing a 118-room boutique hotel reminiscent of the region’s many grain silos, a gift shop, a VIP lounge, a rooftop terrace and an outdoor pool alongside an Elite Sportsbook-branded sportsbetting service.

Foyer facility:

The temporary Grand Island casino is to reportedly be constructed within the existing concourse of Fonner Park’s racetrack with its opening coming after Elite Casino Resorts LLC secured a license from the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission. The premiere of this interim Nebraska project will purportedly allow the operator to start training more staff and earning local revenues as it endeavors to complete work on the five-story Grand Island Casino Resort.

Coming competition:

The WarHorse Gaming LLC enterprise of the federally-recognized Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska is moreover reportedly looking to capitalize on the coming Nebraska casino market and has already received permission to bring similarly-sized gambling-friendly projects to the state’s Horsemen’s Park and Lincoln Race Course facilities. This operator’s $220 million WarHorse Casino at Lincoln Race Course development could purportedly debut by June of 2024 complete with a 196-room hotel, a spa, several restaurants and an events space in addition to a gaming floor replete with roughly 1,200 slots before being followed only a few months later by the opening of its smaller WarHorse Casino Omaha venue.