In late February, Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment — owner of Parx Casino — won the rights for the 4th mini-casino license when their $8.1 million bid was the highest. When they submitted their bid, they choose a location centered around South Newton.
On Tuesday, a specific location was revealed for the area.
2020 launch planned
The company has announced that the new casino will go in Shippensburg Township located near I-81. The casino will be built on a 10-acre site off of exit 29. The location was determined using feedback from the local community.
With the launch of the casino, Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment hope to create a “first-class gaming and entertainment facility.” In addition to gaming, the company aims to focus the casino on a sports bar/food concept.
Once built the casino will house 475 slot machines and 40 electronic table games. Mini-casinos are authorized up to 700 slot machines and 40 table games.
Greenwood Gaming revealed that they plan to launch the casino sometime in 2020. They noted that over 200 jobs could be brought to the area as part of the new site with $45 million in yearly gross revenue, yielding nearly a $1 million in local taxes.
Five mini casinos coming to PA
In early December, the owners of Mount Airy and Stadium Casino LLC will participate in public hearings regarding their proposed mini-casino sites.
A similar hearing will also be held for the proposed Greenwood Gaming mini-casino at a later date while it could be six months before the “land development process plays out” as the company shoots to start offering games sometime in 2020.
In the first half of 2018, auctions for five mini-casino licenses were held, which raised a total of $127 million from the auctions.
Casinos had six months to finalize a location, but many have filed for extensions. However, over the last couple of months, specific locations for some casinos have been revealed.
In addition to Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment’s mini-casino location that was announced on Tuesday, Penn National Gaming purchased two licenses while Stadium Casino and Mount Airy each acquired licenses. Penn National’s first casino is planned to go in Springettsbury Township at the York Galleria mall, while no location has been determined for the other casino.
The Stadium Casino and Mount Airy are the furthest along in the process with specific locations set and public input hearings scheduled for December 4th and 5th, respectively. Mount Airy plans to place their mini-casino in Big Beaver while Stadium Casino has identified the Westmoreland Mall located in Greensburg.