Elite Casino Resorts, which plans to build a casino at Grand Island’s Fonner Park, submitted its Nebraska gaming license application on Tuesday.
The Iowa-based company and Fonner Park are hopeful for a quick approval of the application, according to an Elite Casino news release.
“Should approval be received, Grand Island Casino Resort at Fonner Park will open as a temporary casino inside the existing Fonner Park facility by late 2022 with 300 slot machines, five table games and a grab-and-go dining option,” Elite Casino Resorts CEO Dan Kehl said in the release.
Construction of the permanent casino will start in 2023 with completion sometime in 2025. The resort will offer a 37,000-square-foot casino floor with 650 slot machines and 20 table games, a sports book and four restaurants including a rooftop dining experience, a show lounge and sports bar, a 116-room boutique hotel, a salon and spa, gift shop and indoor and outdoor pool with “an expansive deck, and a 400-stall parking garage,” the news release saod. “The project will provide a seamless connection to the existing grandstand at the horse track while also providing great views to the state fair grounds on the west and the horse races on the east, becoming an entertainment hub to all elements of Fonner Park.”
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According to a story in the Lincoln Journal Star earlier this year, a Nebraska casino operators’ license costs $5 million for a five-year duration. That amount consists of an initial $1 million payment due at the time of application and $1 million paid annually for the license term.
Elite Casino Resorts submits application for Grand Island casino
The Grand Island Casino Resort at Fonner Park will start taking applications for employment should the license be approved.
In April of 2021, Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak announced that Elite Casino Resorts had been chosen as its casino operating partner.
“The Elite Casino Resorts team has a history of taking care of their employees and being involved in the communities in which they operate,” Kotulak said at the time. “They reinvest in their properties and take pride in the services they deliver to their guests. We could not ask for a better operator or a better partner for our community. And finally, the Elite Casino Resorts facilities and amenities are world class. This is the partner we want for our community.”
Elite Casino Resorts operates three casino resorts in Iowa — Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, just south of Iowa City; Rhythm City Casino Resort, in the Quad Cities, and Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort in Larchwood, not far from Sioux Falls, S.D.
Elite is developing two new resorts, one of which is in Grand Island. The other is Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort in Carterville, Illinois.
In addition to casinos, Elite Casino Resorts operates Elite Sportsbook with retail and online operations in Iowa and Colorado.
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