The Las Vegas company backing a proposal to put a casino in Oxford County unveiled initial artist renderings today.

According to the architect working on the project, designers were going for a New England look that would blend in with the area.

The Olympia Group is looking at several sites in Oxford County, and hopes to name a location for the casino by the end of next week, according to spokeswoman Pat LaMarche.

Peter Wilday, Olympia's executive architect, said he and company officials studied examples of regional architecture before settling on a design theme.

"The one word that sticks with me is 'charming,' " said Wilday. "Our direction is charming New England village."

The design shown at an 11 a.m. press conference in Portland showed a development with red brick and towers, large trees and a spread-out campus containing both single-story and multi-story buildings.

"It's intended to be somewhat eclectic," said Wilday.

Wilday said designers would be taking environmental building practices into account, with the goal of getting "as good a LEED score as we possibly can."

The overall site would consist of about 25 acres. The project would be built in two phases with the first starting "immediately," if approved by voters in November. Phase one would consist of $100 million of development, including between 60,000 and 70,000 square feet in the casino, 10,000 to 20,000 square feet in a conference center, 70,000 to 75,000 square feet in hotel space, 5,000 square feet in a spa and about 30,000 square feet in restaurant space.

Phase two would proceed when Olympia determined the market was ready, said Wilday.

Proponents of the casino say it would create up to 800 jobs in Oxford County and put revenues into state coffers. Opponents, however, say the jobs would be of low quality, most of the revenues would travel out of state and social problems would increase.