Buster Douglas, Archie Griffin on hand to help Hollywood Casino make its debut
Business First by Jeff Bell, Staff reporter
Date: Monday, October 8, 2012, 12:52pm EDT - Last Modified: Monday, October 8, 2012, 5:16pm EDT
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Jeff Bell | Business First
Hundreds of would-be gamblers lined up outside Hollywood Casino Columbus for the noon opening with Penn predicting an opening day crowd of 20,000. Hundreds more gathered inside for a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Penn National (NASDAQ:PENN) officials, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, Ohio State University football legend Archie Griffin, Las Vegas entertainer and actress Ann-Margret and former heavyweight boxing champion Buster Douglas.
For a look inside the casino, click here.
The opening marked the culmination of more than three years of work by Wyomissing, Pa.-based Penn National to bring casino gambling to Columbus. The process included getting Ohio voters to approve two ballot issues and a bitter battle with some Columbus business leaders over the site of the casino, which originally was to have been built in the Arena District instead of its eventual location off Georgesville Road in the Westland Mall area.
“There’s been a lot of water under the bridge over the past three years,” Penn National President Tim Wilmott said during the opening ceremony. “Now it’s all positive memories that will carry us forward.”
In that regard, he singled out west-side auto dealer Chris Haydocy for his efforts to bring the casino to that section of Columbus and Coleman for his role in helping end the standoff in the location dispute.
Wilmott also said Penn National has an obligation to be a good neighbor, corporate citizen and employer. Its casino has 2,000 employees and expects to average 10,000 customers a day, a prediction that has west-side businesses hoping for an economic revival in that area.
Ref: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2012/10/08/buster-douglas-archie-griffin-on-hand.html?ana=lnk
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