After years of delay and attempts by Maryland's racing industry to get it moved, the casino planned near the Arundel Mills mall is scheduled to break ground on Thursday.

Planned by Baltimore developer David Cordish, the casino is slated to be the third slots site in Maryland. Licenses for the remaining two designated sites (as approved by voters in 2008) are still waiting for a viable developer.

The groundbreaking is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at the Arundel Mills mall parking lot. Gov. Martin O’Malley, Cordish, Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold and other state and county representatives are expected to attend.

Cordish was awarded the license for the site in 2009 after the application by then-Maryland Jockey Club owner Magna Entertainment Corp. was rejected for not including the $26.5 million application fee. Magna then spent the next year fighting Coridish's development, claiming it would hurt the business of its nearby racetrack, Laurel Park. After Magna's bankruptcy, new jockey club owner MI Developments Inc. continued the fight through much of 2010.

After a court case made its way up to the Maryland Court of Appeals and resulted in a county-wide vote on the site in November 2010, Cordish finally won the go-ahead to move forward.

Cordish has said he believes his site, when fully operational, can generate up to $400 million in annual tax revenue for the state. Roughly 9 percent of that would go toward Maryland racing, as mandated by the state. About 50 percent of it goes toward funding public education.