WENY News
Tioga Downs is already expanding just days after New York voters approved Proposition 1 to allow table games in in the state.
Monday morning, Tioga Downs officially broke ground for a new indoor parking garage.
President and CEO Jeff Gural began designing expansion plans for the racino two years ago and Monday marked the beginning of Phase One of construction plans at the downs.
The new three story, $14 million parking complex will hold close to 300 cars. Gural says about $2 million is coming from his company’s capitol improvement fund, which is like a corporate savings account. The rest of the money is coming out of his own pocket.
Gural says that the new indoor garage will help his business and make it more comfortable for customers so they won’t have to brave the cold winter weather. He expects the garage to take about eight months to complete and it’s set to open sometime next year.
Gural says, “Today is the start of what I hope will be a major project here in the Southern Tier, in Nichols. We’re going to do the indoor parking garage. And, the amazing thing is… I was thinking about this today… We will be the only racino in the state that has an indoor parking garage, and that’s amazing.”
Jeff Gural is still very confident that he will get the full gaming licence so he can continue with his expansion plans. Governor Cuomo says the next step in the process will come around January and the state should be able to select contractors in late 2014.