Dons' chief bets on giant casino
Pete Winkelman reveals his leisure complex plans exclusively to the Citizen
Plans have been drawn up for a large casino based at Milton Keynes Dons' stadium:mk.
Entrepreneur and football club chairman Pete Winkelman revealed the plans to this newspaper, prior to submitting them to the council.
They include a casino, a nightclub, restaurants, bars and mini cinema.
The application will go head to head with previous proposals submitted by the Leisure Plaza and Xscape.
Milton Keynes Council won the right to build a large casino in 2007, but a final decision is unlikely to be made until the end of next year.
The council intends to hold a competition starting in spring 2010, with the winner earning the right to build the casino.
Mr Winkelman has teamed up with international gaming company Casino Austria International to bring his bid to the table.
The group currently runs 75 casinos in 18 different countries on five continents and the Dons supremo described it as a "big, big player".
Its key shareholders even include the Austrian Mint.
A successful bid would see the casino, which would be positioned on the opposite side of the stadium to the currently-under-construction Arena, completed in 2012.
The proposal also comes with 510 additional car parking spaces.
Mr Winkelman originally courted a number of large US casino operators, but those deals fell through when the recession hit and the Americans pulled out of any new European ventures.
But the former music producer believes the new plans will perfectly complement the existing home of MK Dons, the Arena – which will eventually play host to Milton Keynes Lions basketball team and concerts – and the Doubletree Hotel.
He said: "What is exciting is that it is a big, big player. We were looking at the Americans, but they have all pulled out, leaving standard UK players.
It was very important for us not to be the same as in Northampton or Luton. I wanted a bit wider appeal, a full destination resort."
He added that one of the biggest advantages is the fact it would be situated out of the centre of Milton Keynes.
"There is a lot of political support for out-of-town casinos as people shouldn't just fall straight out of a pub into a casino," he said.
"You have to make a conscious decision to go to an out-of-town casino."
The plans have been submitted to Milton Keynes Council for approval.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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