“We are stubborn enough people,” Straub said from Florida on Thursday. “The casino is the hub of the wheel. There is no reason to open the property if it’s only half of a wheel,” the Press of Atlantic City reported.
State gaming officials have told Straub he is required to get some type of gaming license if there is going to be a casino on the property, but he maintains he shouldn’t be required to apply for one since he’s leasing the casino area to a third-party vendor. Straub previously talked about opening the facility as a resort without a casino.
Straub has appealed the Casino Control Commission ruling that required him to have some level of casino license for the property, and he said he’s missing the opening date as he waits on the court decision for his petition.
The property remaining closed is “very disappointing,” Mayor Don Guardian said, calling it an “architecturally significant” building in the state. The building contains 13 restaurants, a 32,000-square-foot spa, 55,000 square feet of retail space and a parking garage with more than 7,000 spaces.