1/16/2016

Robert Harding
Auburn Citizen

TYRE | Dump trucks are rolling in and out. Parking areas have been paved. And with Friday’s beam signing ceremony at the future Lago Resort & Casino site, buildings will be erected.

For Wilmorite Chairman Tom Wilmot Sr., the lead developer of the project and Lago’s co-chair, it’s an achievement that is more than two decades in the making. He’s wanted to build a casino in the Finger Lakes region, including a proposal 10 years ago to construct a gaming resort in Cayuga County.

Those plans never materialized.

But after signing his name on a beam that will be used to build the casino, Wilmot said he’s excited for Lago’s future.

“I would say you get a real shot of adrenaline from the 500 people who came out to support us today,” he said. “It’s wonderful.”

The resort will include a casino with 2,000 slot machines and 85 table games, a 200-room hotel, 40,000-square-foot indoor pool and 10,000-square-foot spa.

Several restaurants will be on site and visitors will be able to attend concerts and other events at The Vine, the casino’s entertainment venue.

Other amenities include Savor New York, a retail pavilion promoting products made in the Empire State.

The project will create as many as 1,800 construction jobs and 1,800 permanent jobs once the casino is built.

Brent Stevens, co-chairman of Lago and founder of Peninsula Pacific, a firm which manages casinos, said more than 3,000 people have expressed interest in working at Lago.

“We could not be more excited to be part of the economic resurgence of this beautiful region in upstate New York,” he said. “And we believed two years ago, when we first had the opportunity to come and meet with Tom and the entire family and hear this opportunity, that we just might be right. And today, thanks in no small part to all of you here, we know we’re right. Lago is going to be a game changer.”

Stevens and Wilmot, along with Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle and local officials, were the first to sign the beam that will be used to construct the facility. Everyone who attended Friday’s event — an estimated 500 people — were invited to sign their names to the large beam.

Wilmot said crews will begin installing the steel Saturday and heating and plumbing work will commence in the next two weeks. Roofers should be on the site in about a month, he said.

Lago is projected to open in the first half of 2017.

There has been a plenty of controversy surrounding the project. A group of Tyre residents has banded together and filed lawsuits challenging the casino.

Outside of Seneca County, Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack in Farmington and the Oneida Indian Nation, which owns Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona and Yellow Brick Road Casino in Chittenango, have spoken out against Lago. The entities say the Tyre casino will cannibalize gaming revenues, which could lead to job losses at their respective facilities.

After the state Gaming Commission awarded Lago a casino license, the Oneidas filed a lawsuit challenging the panel’s decision.

If Wilmot is worried about the lawsuit, he isn’t showing it. On Friday, he said he’s looking forward to competing with existing upstate casinos.

“We’re confident we’re going to give the customer the best experience they can have,” he said.

1/9/2016

Glynis Hart
Ithica.com

Last week, the Seneca County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in support of the controversial Lago Resort & Casino planned for Tyre, near the Rt. 414 Thruway exit. The casino plans have inspired three lawsuits by local citizens; anti-casino citizens’ group Casino Free Tyre has contended that the town approved Lago’s site plan without proper review and without the backing of local residents. Although a judge halted work on the casino site in response to the group’s allegation that the environmental review was not done properly, Wilmot Corporation, which owns Lago, won the suit on appeal. On Dec. 21 the state Gaming Commission awarded a casino license to Lago, which is resuming construction. Thomas Wilmot, the Rochester magnate behind Lago, announced plans to open the facility in 2017.

Other opponents of the casino were the Oneida Indian Nation, which owns Turning Stone casino in Verona. In a series of TV spots, the Turning Stone owners said that Lago would draw customers away from existing, nearby casinos. Turning Stone and Vernon Downs and Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack all operate within two hours’ drive of the proposed Lago casino.

On Dec. 28, the board of supervisors of Seneca County fired back. Their resolution states, in part:

“WHEREAS, litigants challenging the Casino Project are funded by parties with interests outside of Seneca County (Finger Lakes Raceway owned by Delaware North out of Buffalo and the Oneida Nation/Turning Stone from Oneida County) and have no obligation to Seneca County or its residents and
WHEREAS, Indian Gaming operations have enjoyed over 20 years without payments to state or local governments yet now voluntarily pay over $50,000,000 per year to counties east of Seneca County without benefit to Seneca County and are now pursuing retail and other developments that will negatively impact Seneca County..” the board “reaffirms its unwavering support” for Lago.

The resolution concludes with a call for a Gaming Corridor Marketing effort, “Bringing together those companies involved in gaming and those communities with their economy and tax base now relying or will be relying on gaming revenues, to find mutually beneficial ways to promote upstate tourism and upstate gaming from Albany to Buffalo, Chautauqua to Sullivan County and from the Counties of Broome and Tioga all the way to the Canadian border – it is time to stop spending money on lawsuits and to start turning efforts to marketing the great Upstate New York area.”
Casino Free Tyre did not respond to questions.

1/3/2016

Gene Pierce
Finger Lakes Times

I could not be happier that two weeks ago, the New York State Gaming Commission finally issued a license for the Lago Resort & Casino in Tyre. It’s about time! Now, the limited construction we’ve seen at the Lago site can heat up and start to go full bore, as we look forward to a grand opening sometime in 2017.

We all know the benefits of Lago for our region. We’ve heard these facts before but they bear repeating. Construction at Lago will create 1,800 jobs and then once opened, Lago will create 1,800 permanent jobs. The construction and permanent jobs will largely be for residents of Seneca County and the Finger Lakes region. And as everyone in Seneca County knows, we desperately need those jobs.

Lago will also greatly increase the number of tourists coming to our county and region. That’s great news for my business and for hundreds of other businesses in our county — vineyards, restaurants, breweries, hotels, shops, etc. Lago will be encouraging its visitors to explore the Finger Lakes region and has already established cooperative arrangements with more than 100 local businesses.

There is no doubt that Lago will help bring an economic resurgence to the region. That’s why Lago is overwhelmingly supported by the people of Tyre and Seneca County. Now, to be fair, there remain a few Lago opponents. I certainly respect those Tyre and Seneca County residents who are opposed to Lago, and I hope over time that they will change their minds and become Lago supporters.

I have no respect, however, for the naysayers who are simply protecting their existing gaming monopolies. Naysayers from outside of Seneca County — to our east and our west — whose only mission, it seems, is to spread misinformation and outright lies in their effort to protect their selfish interests at the expense of the people of Seneca County.

To the east, the Oneida Indian Nation — which has enjoyed a two-decade casino monopoly at Turning Stone — says that the decision to allow Lago (through a fair and independent process) is unfair. Really?
Lago is 70 miles from Turning Stone. Lago is in Seneca County, which is not part of the 10-county exclusivity zone that the OIN drew for itself to preserve its monopoly and has never received a dime from the OIN, unlike the counties that are in that zone. Additionally, since Lago was selected to receive one of the four Upstate casino licenses, the OIN has opened a new casino in Chittenango, which is even closer to Seneca County. The OIN claims Lago is unfair? Really?

To the west, Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack, owned by Buffalo-based conglomerate Delaware North, makes several outrageous claims. First, Delaware North is claiming that it will need to reduce the number of racing days in 2016 because of Lago. Really? Lago won’t open until 2017.

Delaware North also claims that Lago will get half of its gaming revenue from Finger Lakes Gaming (similarly, the OIN claims that Lago will get half its gaming revenue from Turning Stone). Blatantly untrue, and they know it. The fact is — and Lago has made this publicly clear for more than a year and a half — that about half of Lago’s first-year gaming revenue will come from all existing gaming facilities in New York. However, that also means that the other half of Lago’s first-year gaming revenue will be “new” money for any New York gaming facility, money that FLGRT or Turning Stone can compete with Lago to obtain.

Finally, Delaware North — which has made more than $200 million in profits at Finger Lakes Gaming while making no substantial capital investment in the facility — claims that it pays a 79 percent gaming tax on its video lottery terminals (VLTs), far more than Lago will be paying. Again, a blatant misstatement. Delaware North pays no gaming tax; rather, Finger Lakes Gaming is paid a 21 percent operators fee on each VLT is has on its property. New York state — not Finger Lakes — owns the VLTs and Finger Lakes Gaming makes no investment in the machines, unlike the investment Lago and the other new casino will make in purchasing slot machines and other gaming equipment.

It is abundantly clear that Lago Resort & Casino — with the unanimous support of the Tyre Town Board, Seneca County Board of Supervisors, Seneca County Chamber of Commerce, New York State Facility Location Board, and the New York State Gaming Commission — is the right facility in the right location at the right time. Lago will create jobs, increase tourism, and build a real economic future for Seneca County and the entire Finger Lakes Region.

Gene Pierce is the owner of Knapp Winery & Restaurant on Cayuga Lake, Glenora Wine Cellars & The Inn at Glenora on the west side of Seneca Lake, and Chateau LaFayette Reneau Winery & Inn on the east side of Seneca Lake.