In anticipation of new competition from the Hard Rock casino planned in Mettler, owners of Golden West Casino are looking to move their 28-year-old card room on Union Avenue to a larger, more upscale building proposed near Meadows Field Airport.
Irvine-based Kern County Associates LP has applied for a conditional use permit that, if approved next month by the county Planning Commission, could allow the company to proceed with construction of a new card room on vacant land at the northwest corner of Merle Haggard Drive and Landings Way.
People involved with the project say it is expected to be accompanied by restaurants and hotels that could attract customers near and far to an underutilized area that now serves mostly industrial uses.
