$450 Million From 'Millennium' For Rockingham Slots?

According to a report, Millennium Gaming, which has held an option to buy Rockingham Park since 2005, is willing to invest $450 million to bring slot machines to Salem, New Hampshire racetrack Rockingham Park.

Millennium Gaming is a Las Vegas-based casino operator.

The article, published today in the Concord Monitor, states that a newly formed coalition of gambling, business and labor union representatives believe that a gaming expansion at Rockingham would rescue the state from its budget issues. The report says that a budget gap of $400 million is expected over the next two years.

"If the state is looking for new revenue to address this budget challenge, it can't afford to risk our economic advantage by implementing a sales or income tax," Chuck Morse, a former state senator who is a member of the Fix It Now New Hampshire coalition, was quoted as saying.

According to the report, coalition members said the recent downturn in the economy makes their pitch more appealing than in the past.

The coalition has made the following predictions if the Rockingham expansion is given the green light:

• Up to 4 million visitors a year, 70 percent of them from out of state;
• $200 million in annual tax revenue;
• $450 million in capital improvements at the track, resulting in thousands of jobs for New Hampshire workers.

In addition to helping the purse pool, Edward Callahan, general manager of Rockingham Park, said that Rockingham's grandstand would be rebuilt and a temporary building for gamblers to play in until work finished would be erected.

To read the Concord Monitor article in its entirety, click here.

(With files from the Concord Monitor)