With the coveted Aqueduct franchise again up for grabs, no less than six suitors are standing in line for the chance to build and operate Big A gaming.

With 4,500 proposed video lottery terminals, the racino would be “more arcade than Atlantic City,” smirked the New York Times in 2008, but, like similar projects around the U.S. and beyond, it was expected to prop up Aqueduct’s declining racing business, provide thousands of jobs, and pump millions in revenue into the state, which is running on empty with a $14 billion-plus budget deficit.

Delaware North’s initial plan for the racino included a contemporary, $250 million slot parlor, sprawling across the 192-acre site in Ozone Park, with 330,000 square feet of gaming space to abut the existing grandstand and clubhouse (which were built in 1894, and rebuilt during the 1950s).

The exterior was to be sleek and fairly unadorned-a complement to the existing track facilities, which reflect the no-frills sensibilities of mid-20th-century architect Arthur Froelich (Froelich also designed many supermarkets of the period). Inside, it would be pure Viva Las Vegas (minus the dealers): a cacophony of glitz and glamour, with all the color and buzz of a Leroy Neiman dream.

An Aqueduct operator has not yet been named, but the racino formula is certainly working elsewhere in the U.S. Though casino revenues overall are down, year-over-year numbers at domestic racinos grew more than 17 percent to $6.19 billion last year, according to the American Gaming Association.