HARRISBURG -- The state Gaming Control Board yesterday issued its sixth racetrack/casino license, this one going to Presque Isle Downs, a new track and slots casino being built along Interstate 90 just south of Erie.

Five racetrack/casino licenses have already been issued by the board, including one for The Meadows in Washington County. That slots parlor is due to open in May.

The Erie slots casino is expected to open in February, said Ted Arneault, head of MTR Gaming Inc., which also operates a casino in West Virginia. The Erie racetrack, a thoroughbred facility, isn't due to open until next September.

The gaming board still has a seventh racetrack/casino license to issue, but it can't do so until a separate agency, the Harness Racing Commission, licenses a fourth and final harness racing track. Developers in Beaver and Lawrence counties are competing for that track license.