Fresh from his success building Cabela’s Scarborough outlet and landing an agreement to build Fairchild Semiconductor’s 90,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art corporate headquarters, Connecticut developer Gene Beaudoin is setting his sights on Scarborough’s brightest undeveloped jewel, the 535-acre Scarborough Downs.

Beaudoin returns to the Scarborough Council Thursday with plans for a town-center type, mixed-use development at the Downs that would likely include slot machines and video gambling, despite past failures to expand gambling at the 58-year-old harness racing track.

Scarborough residents shot down slot machines at the track when the question was put to town-wide vote in 2003, and town officials say bringing slots to the Downs now would require approval of the Legislature and governor, as well as a town vote.

But, Beaudoin said, he is “not convinced of what the public’s view would be on a very large, mixed-use development that would also include gaming.”

Before entering into any specific agreement with Scarborough Downs to develop the property, Beaudoin said, he plans this time to get input from Scarborough residents about what kind of development they want to see there.

Beaudoin said Richardson & Associates of Saco, landscape architects, has spent weeks touring development around race tracks throughout New England and New York to create a variety of potential development ideas that will be shown to the Town Council and residents Thursday in a PowerPoint presentation.

“It’s a strictly ‘for your interest’ kind of presentation,” Beaudoin said.

He said he plans to meet with focus groups of residents over the coming weeks to gauge public opinion on the various options.

Beaudoin said he envisions a project that is “strictly non-residential,” with the exception of senior housing and downtown-style, second-story apartments, with the majority of the buildings dedicated to retail and office space. Slots, if included, would occupy only about eight of the 535 acres.

Town officials say they don’t know the specifics of Beaudoin’s planned presentation, but they do expect it to involve expanded gambling facilities. While Beaudoin specializes in retail and office developments, he “needs land for development,” said Town Manager Ron Owens, and Scarborough Downs has insisted that any development of its property needs slot machines.

“It’s kind of a chicken-and-egg kind of thing,” Owens said.

Scarborough Downs President Sharon Terry and other track officials have not returned repeated telephone calls seeking comment. Track attorney Ed McColl, of Portland, however, said that Terry is “working with” Beaudoin and that she would likely attend Thursday’s meeting.

McColl said Terry and her family want slots because they have subsidized the track’s operations from their private assets for decades, and Terry is unwilling to pull the plug on the 58-year-old race track.

“Scarborough Downs is trying to figure out how to use the resource to best serve the needs of both the harness racing community and the town of Scarborough,” McColl said Monday. “Mrs. Terry and her family have spent millions of dollars to cover the track’s loses over many decades because of her family’s dedication to the sport of horse racing.”

Terry’s late husband, Joe Ricci, founded Elan School for troubled youth, based in Poland, Maine, in 1970. His financial success with the school, which currently charges tuition in excess of $49,000 a year, enabled him to purchase Scarborough Downs.

McColl said Terry and her family consider preserving harness racing and the farms and open space it supports as their top priority, and any development of the property second.

“There are several farms … that depend on harness racing as their sole or principal source of revenue,” he said. “We lose these farms, they’re gone, and it’s an unnecessary tragedy.”

Town Council Chairman Jeff Messer, however, doesn’t buy it. He said he believes track officials are holding out for a “racino” because it’s the most lucrative way to develop the land, not because they want to preserve Maine farms.

“The Downs doesn’t do anything other than for their financial gain,” he said. “They’re holding out hopes for a racino because it’s the maximum profit for them. If they say they can’t develop the land without a racino, well, I don’t really care if they develop their land at all.”

He added that he thinks harness racing is “kind of like bowling – it’s basically, in my opinion, an industry that has seen its day.”

Messer, who worked as a casino manager on a cruise ship in the 1970s, said he does not have strong feelings for or against gambling, but would like to see Scarborough residents get significant economic benefits if they were to approve slots at Scarborough Downs.

“(If we could get) $50 million for a school, $15 million for a public safety building … without raising taxes, it might be something the citizens might want to consider,” he said. “… I think one-third of the people are staunchly opposed (to gambling) and I think one-third are staunchly in favor … It’s the one-third in the middle that I think will make the decision.”

If Beaudoin and the track were to again propose slot machines, Messer said he would like to see the town first do a straw poll to gauge support, given that legislative and gubernatorial approval would also be required, before putting voters through the “emotional trauma” of another binding vote.

The developer behind the new Cabela’s is now eyeing the 535 acres of land owned by Scarborough Downs as a site for his next big project.