$60 million expansion at Prairie Meadows OK’d

Ryan J. Foley

Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005 | 8:57 a.m.

JOHNSTON, Iowa -- The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission on Tuesday approved a $60 million expansion at Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino, which will add 500 slot machines to the 1,500 the casino has now and a new entertainment room to the complex.

The expansion to the Altoona gaming facility will also double the number of table games to 65 and add a jockey's quarters and other improvements to its horse racing operations.

It will put the largest casino in central Iowa in a stronger position as gambling regulators approve new casinos throughout the state, as early as May.

Robert Farinella, general manager of the Altoona casino, said the expansion should be completed by April 2007 and help boost gaming revenue from $160 million annually to $200 million.

He said Prairie Meadows eventually plans to have a hotel connected to the casino, a parking garage for 1,200 cars, and several national chain restaurants on its 233-acre complex.

The entertainment room will be rented out to community groups for banquets, and provide a venue for entertainers at the casino. A buffet and a steakhouse will also be added.

"This is good for the community. This really fits right in to what Prairie Meadows is all about, being able to grow our entertainment value and returning that not-for-profit money directly back into our community," Farinella said.

Prairie Meadows is owned by Polk County taxpayers but leased to the nonprofit Racing Association of Central Iowa, which has held the gambling license since the late 1980s. Polk County supervisors approved the expansion plan earlier.

No one spoke against the plan, which was approved unanimously by the commission. The five-member commission regulates the state's gaming industry, which includes 13 casinos and generated $250 million in tax revenue last year.

Prairie Meadows' expansion is expected to hurt business at Lakeside Casino in Osceola, southwest of Des Moines, where revenue dropped nearly 30 percent after Prairie Meadows added table games such as blackjack and poker last month.

The expansion comes as gambling competition in Iowa heats up. The gaming commission will issue an undetermined number of new casino licenses in May after hearing proposals for casinos in eight more communities across the state.

Prairie Meadows is the only horse track in the state, featuring live thoroughbred, quarter horse and harness racing from April until November. Expansion plans call for adding the jockeys' quarters and a walking ring for horses by the 2006 racing season.

Gambling regulators on Tuesday declined to step into a long-running dispute over how millions of dollars in purse money is split between owners of the different types of horses.

The commission voted 3-1 against requiring Prairie Meadows to set a minimum purse for each race. The Iowa Harness Horsemen's Association had asked the commission to set aside 16 percent of the total purse for their owners.