Casino developer Churchill Downs Inc. plans to build a hotel at Oxford Casino as part of a $25 million expansion.

The project to build an attached hotel includes expansion of the existing Oxford Casino facility and would feature more than 100 guest rooms, additional dining options, an expansion of the gaming floor and meeting and banquet space, the company said Friday.

Construction of the hotel and banquet space represents the second time Louisville, Kentucky-based Churchill Downs has expanded the Oxford facility since purchasing the property for $160 million in 2013. The casino employs more than 400 people and is the largest employer in the town of Oxford.

The latest expansion will create 60 new full-time positions, along with an estimated 1,000 temporary construction jobs, the company said.

“This is tremendous news for Oxford Casino, the surrounding communities, our employees and our patrons from across the region,” Oxford Casino Vice President and General Manager Jack Sours said in a news release. “We’re anxious to begin construction and provide our guests with this exciting new option for their visit to Oxford.”

The hotel would connect to the town’s newly installed municipal sewer system, providing a significant source of revenue for the sewer project, according to Churchill Downs.

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Construction of the hotel and casino expansion is expected to begin as early as June and be completed by the summer of 2017.

Another hotel, a Hampton Inn across the street from Oxford Casino being built by Quincy, Massachusetts-based Giri Hotel Management, is scheduled for completion this summer.

Casino development has been a controversial issue in Maine. This month, the backers of a failed ballot initiative to allow a resort-style casino in York County filed an appeal to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court seeking to revive the campaign. However, they later withdrew the appeal.

Churchill Downs stated at the time that it opposed the York County initiative.

There are now two casinos in Maine: Hollywood Casino in Bangor and the Oxford Casino.


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