SCARBOROUGH – Owners of Scarborough Downs harness-racing track and the developer responsible for bringing Cabela’s to town are holding out a carrot to local residents as they seek again to get approval to install slot machines.
The track’s owner and a developer want to create a new town center with shops on a “Main Street” that would link U.S. Route 1 and Payne Road. Slot machines could help pay $15 million to $20 million for water, sewer and power lines, said Gene Beaudoin of New England Expedition, which built the new Cabela’s store.
“This is the Main Street Scarborough doesn’t have,” Beaudoin said. “It’s headed in the direction toward a thing we’re calling Scarborough Village, a new village area.”
A Maine law approved by a statewide referendum in 2003 allowed slot machines to be installed at existing harness racing tracks with local approval.
Bangor residents gave their approval, and the city is now home to Hollywood Slots. Scarborough residents along with residents in Saco and Westbrook rejected slots.
The Legislature and Gov. John Baldacci would have to approve a law giving Scarborough another shot at slots. Then the matter would go to town voters again.
Beaudoin said the success of Cabela’s and Fairchild Semiconductor’s decision to relocate its headquarters to Payne Road and the Haigis Parkway shows demand for both retail and office space is high for the parkway area, where the town’s comprehensive plan directs most new commercial development.
Jeffrey Messer, chairman of the Scarborough Town Council, said the idea of a Main Street is appealing, but he said the proposal for slot machines is more contentious.
Messer said he worked to defeat the slots referendum five years ago because “there wasn’t much in it for the town.” This time, he said, voters might see slot machines and more development as a source of money for town needs, including a new middle school.
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