Richard Talley, owner of the Motel Safari in Tucumcari, N.M., sent an e-mail report about the public hearing Thursday night on whether the town should be awarded a license for a horse-racing track and casino, which would be on Route 66 on the city’s east side:
The meeting went very well last night, with New Mexico’s Racing Commission. We had over 1,200 people in attendance, the largest show of support out of all 3 proposed Racino sites. The meeting officially started at 5:30pm, and went on well into the night! Besides the commissions involved, there were government officials, representatives and residents from: Curry County, Quay County, the cities of Amarillo, Clovis, Logan, San Jon and Tucumcari.
In addition to having the largest crowd in support of a new Racino, the Coronado Park development group was also able to show that the Tucumcari location would be able to bring in at least twice as much revenue as the other proposed sites, as well as, provide more economic development within the surrounding communities and community support services.
This morning, the commission will be given a short tour of the town, and walk over the proposed site location and plans.
I believe everyone really put their best foot forward with this project, and worked very hard towards gaining the state’s Racing Commission approval. The whole area should be proud of what they’ve done, to try and get the Racino here in Tucumcari. They worked the hardest, gave the best presentation, and showed the most support. Now we’ll have to see what happens in the next month, and hope we have a new Horse Race Track and Casino, right on Route 66 in Tucumcari, NM. As one Amarillo resident put it, “If you build it, we will come”! If it’s all about business and outside revenue sources, not politics and back scratching, we have the best location to offer, hands down!
So everyone keep their fingers crossed, and keep those e-mails and letters coming to the New Mexico Racing Commission! And thanks to everyone out there in the Route 66 communities for their support…
An attendance figure of 1,200 for a relatively small town like Tucumcari is very impressive. So this is very encouraging. We should know within 60 days or less.