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Ray Halbritter, chief executive officer of the Oneida Nation, has confirmed in a press release Monday that the Tribe plans to develop a Wizard of Oz themed casino 14 miles East of Syracuse in the town of Chittenango.
The $20m project will be called the Yellow Brick Road Casino and feature 67,000 sq ft of space and include a hotel. The casino is scheduled to open in Spring of 2015.
Oneida Indian officials say they don't need approvals from any governments to launch the gaming facility, which will have 436 Vegas-style slot machines and a Bingo hall.
The Oneidas announced their plans just days after a state panel recommended licensing three non-Indian casinos in Upstate New York. The Tribe already operates a lucrative casino resort in the region, the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona.
“Competition isn't anything new to us - we have Vernon Downs,'' Halbritter said, referring to the harness race track with video lottery machines. "And there are casinos in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.
"From the day we opened, we told our management to always make your decisions as if a competing casino was right across the street,'' Halbritter said.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
