LEWISTON — Backers of establishing a casino in Bates Mill building No. 5 say they’ve collected enough signatures to get their plan on the November 2011 ballot.
Stavros Mendros, of Great Falls Recreation and Redevelopment LLC, has scheduled a news conference at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in Lewiston City Hall to discuss the group’s next steps.
In a City of Lewiston news release, Mendros said the effort has raised 75,000 signatures collected in 300 towns and cities across Maine and in all 16 counties. It includes 10,000 signatures from Lewiston alone.
Mendros and his partners Ron Chicoine and Peter Robinson are expected to attend the conference. Mendros said Wednesday the group will bring boxes containing most of the signatures. They will load them into a truck after the conference and drive them up to the Secretary of State’s office Augusta.
“We have more than enough now to qualify, so we want to get the process rolling,” Mendros said. The signatures need to be from verified Maine voters, and the effort needs at least 57,277 to qualify, Mendros said. They are due to be turned in to the Secretary of State’s office by Jan. 20.
“We figure we’ll have 7,000 to 8,000 extra,” he said. “I want to get them turned in now because I’d rather have them stored someplace safe. I want them in a nice secure location where they can start processing them.”
Once the signatures have been verified, the matter goes the state Legislature for review. If legislators don’t vote to adopt the Lewiston casino, it will go on the November 2011 ballot.
“We’ve always planned on a statewide campaign and a vote,” Mendros said. “But we’d love it if the state just approved it.”
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