307 Horse Racing gets long-parked Casper liquor license, but Commissary Mall plans could change
CASPER, Wyo. — The Casper City Council approved the transfer of Retail Liquor License No. 5 from Travis Taylor to 307 Horse Racing during its Tuesday, November 2 meeting.
307 Horse Racing Chief Financial Officer Kyle Ridgeway told that council in August that the WERCS Group, which is the parent company of 307 Horse Racing, was planning to renovate the Commissary Mall to operate a new liquor store, bar and off-track horse race gaming machine room in the building.
While that could still happen, Ridgeway told the council on Tuesday that it is possible 307 Horse Racing will ask the council to approve transferring the license to another location in Casper to host the business.
Ridgeway said that the WERCS Group is evaluating what it will do, considering the cost to renovate the Commissary Mall versus putting the business in another space.
He said that transferring the license to another location might put the license into use sooner than if the Commissary Mall is kept as the location, noting that with supply chain issues, it “could take longer than a year” for 307 Horse Racing to be operational in the Commissary Mall.
Ridgeway said that as of Tuesday, he didn’t have a lease for another space that he could present to the council.
Since Retail Liquor License No. 5 hasn’t seen much use since it was acquired by Travis Taylor in 2016, Council member Bruce Knell asked whether it would be possible to put a timeline on when 307 Horse Racing is expected to put the license to use.
Ridgeway said that the company has spent $3 million to buy 150 historic horse race gaming machines that are set to be delivered this month.
“I’ve got to be able to put them somewhere,” Ridgeway said, indicating to the council that 307 Horse Racing doesn’t plan to sit on the liquor license indefinitely.
Council member Steve Cathey suggested that it may be more appropriate for the council to establish a timeline to see progress on 307 Horse Racing putting the license to use in February 2022, when the council will consider renewing all liquor licenses held across Casper.
City Attorney John Henley said that if the council approved the liquor license transfer, 307 Horse Racing would have at minimum one year to put it to use, as this is established in Wyoming law.
Vice Mayor Ray Pacheco said that he thinks 307 Horse Racing has a significant enough investment that he was willing to approve the liquor license transfer.
The council approved the transfer on a vote of 6-0. Council members Kyle Gamroth and Amber Pollock recused themselves ahead of consideration of the issue. Council member Shawn Johnson was not in attendance.
The city can have a maximum of 37 full retail liquor licenses under state statute.
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