Raton to break gound on racino

the news from Baltimore does not bode well for Raton

The challenges facing BCEG (Moldenhauer's MD group) sound a lot like what's happening (NOT) in Raton. The city gives land, then if faced with numerous delays regarding financial info.

heard that garcia tents will be putting in the concrete pads within 2 weeks for the temp.casino and that the track surface base will be in place by january will be allowed to settle in then layered to reach the best possible surface

Bla Bla Bla. So they made a mound of topsoil. Please!!!

Come on Raton, you can do this!

Anything new going on with the Racino?

still waiting for building permit, according to RLD website

franken is out fencing spot this am. they fence off all of their job sites 11/19/09

Yep, I've seen the fence around a small area of destroyed grassland - a completely different spot than what was graded a few months ago.

I don't see anything like ~real~ construction happening though - not even rebar prep for concrete work. Perhaps doing the absolute minimum necessary to give the impression of progress?

How about the job recruiting campaign that was supposed to happen in November (or was it October)?

The plan to open the slot machines by end of December was changed to end of January. That doesn't seem likely now either.

I see that in Baltimore he's had trouble with financing - bringing in mysterious partners at the last minute...

You know what cracks me up? Raton locals who think they'll make money by gambling on horses and slot machines.

LMAO at fools.

No job? No money? No education? No luck?
Then the track's NOT FOR YOU. Stay away, unless you're seeking one more thing to fail at.

boy you picked your name well rude jerk . go jerk away

Rude Jerk wrote:

You know what cracks me up? Raton locals who think they'll make money by gambling on horses and slot machines.

Ratonians wasting their money at the racetrack is as funny as Ratonians wasting their money on booze and smokes. In other words, it's not funny at all; it's sad.

Even more sad, people who think they'll make lots of money WORKING at the Racino racetrace/casino/restaurants/t ruck stop/motel.

Worst-paying jobs in America:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/04/america-wors...

Construction equipment mysteriously appearing and vanishing in the middle of the night, but never an operator to be seen.

Someone needs to call Ghostbusters.

bad john wrote:

I HEARD THAT RICK HENSON MAY COME IN TO HELP ERIC WITH BUILD OUT...

Hope this Henson guy is adept at cold-weather concrete work. And he'd better bring his own tools, cause the Franken fellows took theirs with them when they went home.

Franken did a nice job while they were here. Graded an area (not leveled, just graded) and put up a fence made from t-posts and woven wire panels. A solid afternoon's work...

...I think we're done for...not gonna happen...last one to leave, turn out the lights...

Hey Tucumcari,

Are you ready for some RACING!!!

have you heard anything official? I have heard lots of rumors the last two days that Raton lost the license.

I've heard those rumors too. Although it's obvious that the Gaming Commission must take action soon, I won't believe that Raton has lost the license until an official announcement is made. Raton Rumors are slightly less reliable than out-of-state developers.

Here's an update on the parallel Baltimore project:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/pol...

To summarize, the Baltimore regulators are increasingly frustrated with the Baltimore City Entertainment Group's (Michael Moldenhauer's) delays, stalling, and refusal to pay the full licensing fee.

" "We have expressed concerns repeatedly about the unmet promises for plans and the licensing fee," said Donald C. Fry, chairman of the slots commission. "It has been increasingly frustrating to us." "

Interestingly, the Raton Racino gets a mention in the Baltimore Sun on page 2 of the story:

" Moldenhauer is also attempting to build a racino with 600 slot machines in New Mexico, and has said a temporary gaming facility will open at the end of January.

New Mexico Gaming Board spokesman Greg Saunders said little progress has been made at the site, near the Colorado border northeast of Albuquerque. "They've moved some dirt around," he said, "but no construction has occurred." "

A good indicator of the Raton project's energy and progress, check out the website of "Horse Racing of Raton."

http://www.racingatraton.com/

Notice that the 'news' section hasn't been updated since May.

The "Elevations" page is nothing but a drawing of a casino.

The Team page, "Meet the Team" doesn't have any of the 'team' members listed at all. No job descriptions, no contact info, no backgrounds...

The bulleted list on the "Casino" page has fifteen items, but it's really only a couple of items listed over and over again.

A website that was only partially started before being abandoned... just like the construction site.

BREAKING NEWS:

Michael Moldenhauer loses Baltimore gaming deal.

Found an interested financing partner, but the partner wanted a 45-60 MORE days to study the deal. But after months of non-progress, the MD gaming commission told Moldenauer to go away.

AP News:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/A...

" The commission voted 6-0 to reject the proposal by the Baltimore City Entertainment Group, which repeatedly missed deadlines to submit a revised proposal and an additional licensing fee to expand its initial proposal from 500 to 3,750 slot machines. The expanded number of machines was needed to fulfill a lease agreement with the city.

"This project has not moved, in the eyes of this commission, one millimeter since we met in August," Neall said. "