Company cites challenging economic and capital market conditions

In light of challenging economic and capital market conditions, greater demands on the company’s available cash, and increased competition and construction costs, Seneca Gaming Corp. has decided to suspend construction at Seneca Allegany Casino & Hotel and Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino & Hotel.

In consultation with its owner, the Seneca Nation of Indians, the company continues to evaluate options and the appropriate timing to continue expansion plans on the Seneca Nation’s Allegany and Buffalo Creek territories.

“We have kept a close eye on the state of the economy and the impact it has continued to have on every person and every industry across the country,” Barry Snyder Sr., Seneca Gaming Corporation chairman, said in an Aug. 29 announcement. “In keeping with our financial commitments to our owner, the Seneca Nation of Indians, and with our obligations to our bondholders, we have decided that it is our responsibility to suspend our construction activities at this time, as we endeavor to preserve the continuing strength and vitality of our company. We look forward to resuming and completing construction of these two world-class projects at the appropriate time.”

Seneca Gaming Corporation had been erecting steel for both the $130 million hotel expansion at Seneca Allegany Casino & Hotel in Salamanca and the $333 million permanent Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino in Buffalo, where the company now operates a temporary casino. Existing operations at the two facilities will not be affected by the suspensions, nor will the operation of the company’s flagship facility, Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls, New York.

 “Seneca Gaming Corporation has established itself as a dynamic and growing presence in the gaming industry and in the Western New York economy, and we expect that to continue,” said Brian Hansberry, president and CEO of Seneca Gaming Corporation.