This architectural rendering image provided by Lago Resort and Casino, shows an exterior view of their proposed casino in Tyre, N.Y. The development in the Finger Lakes region was recommended for a casino license on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Lago Resort and Casino) (Photo: AP)

ALBANY – The del Lago Resort & Casino in the Finger Lakes this week said it submitted a $50 million license fee payment to the state as it continues construction and hopes to open early next year.

The casino, which is facing a bevy of lawsuits, expects to open next February. Each of the three upstate casinos that were awarded licenses in December have to pay a $50 licensing fee to the state by month's end.

"We are delighted to announce that del Lago Resort & Casino has fulfilled its initial obligation to New York state and made the $50 million payment for the cost of our casino license,” Brent Stevens, a co-chairman of the casino, said in a statement.

Under New York law, 10 percent of the license fee goes to the host town and county. An additional 10 percent will be shared by the state with other counties in the region.

The $420 million casino has faced opposition from neighboring casinos, including Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack, owned by Buffalo-based Delaware North and located about a half hour away in Farmington, Ontario County. The Oneida Indian Nation, which runs the Turning Stone Casino in central New York, has also been suing to block the project.

But the lawsuits, while briefly derailing construction, hasn't stopped the casino, owned by Rochester-area developer Thomas Wilmot and set to open off of exit 41 on the state Thruway. The developers recently changed the name from Lago to del Lago.

The state Facility Location Board on Dec. 17, 2014, picked the Lago casino from three projects seeking a license in the Southern Tier/Finger Lakes region. In early 2015, the bidding for a Southern Tier casino was reopened, and the Tioga Downs casino was picked last October.

The other casino sites selected are in Schenectady and Thompson, Sullivan County, in the Catskills.

Tioga Downs is still waiting final approval from the state Gaming Commission. If approved, Tioga Downs would have to pay a $20 million license fee.

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