Potential opening date is second half of 2020

Pennsylvania: Parx Casino applies for mini-casino in Shippensburg

The casino project still has to pass muster with the PGCB, including a public input hearing at which township residents will be able to voice their support or concerns.
2018-10-25
Reading time 2:34 min
The casino located in Bensalem, outside Philadelphia, has submitted an application with the state's Gaming Control Board to its midstate mini-casino near Shippensburg.

The parent company of Parx Casino in Bucks County has filed papers with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to build a new mini-casino in western Cumberland County, near Shippensburg.

The proposed site lies in tiny Shippensburg Township, just north of the borough and just east of the Franklin County line and best-known until now as home to Shippensburg University, Penn Live reports.

Parx, if it wins a license from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, is shooting for a 2020 opening.

The township is one of a handful of municipalities in South Central Pennsylvania that left the door open to casino development after passage of Pennsylvania's massive 2017 gambling expansion package.

That means elected officials there don't have the direct ability to veto the project, as long as it meets all local zoning and land development requirements.

But the casino project still has to pass muster with the PGCB, including a public input hearing at which township residents will be able to voice their support or concerns.

"The applicant has some control of the site, but it must also obtain all required permits locally to satisfy the board and gain the award," gaming control board spokesman Doug Harbach said.

"The board will also look at the same issues as with any casino licensing including... whether the applicant is likely to maintain a financially successful, viable and efficient business operation in that location, and is likely able to maintain a steady level of revenue growth.

"Certainly there could special conditions attached to the license as well," Harbach added.

For Parx, this represents the end of a tortured site selection process that saw company officials wage unsuccessful campaigns earlier this year to repeal casino opt-out resolutions in Carlisle and its neighboring South Middleton Township.

But for a third choice, the company seems happy enough.

"We are happy about the site, we're looking forward to building there and running a great business there," said Marc Oppenheimer, the company's chief marketing officer.

Oppenheimer noted initial plans call for 475 slot machines and 40 table game betting positions in a casino that, once open, will be within 25 miles of 300,000 residents.

The new building, as proposed, would literally be visible right from Interstate 81, with easy access from the highway's Exit 29.

The tract is a 10-acre, out-parcel created in a larger subdivision bringing a major freight and warehousing facility to I-81's Walnut Bottom Road interchange. The original developers are Newtown Square, Pa.-based Equus Capital Partners Ltd.

Centered on the Cumberland / Franklin county line, Parx executives believe it is well-positioned to bring in customers from areas north and east of Carlisle all the way south into the Hagerstown, Md. market.

In addition, while it remains to be seen how well the project will be received by township residents, Parx does appear to have the full-throated support of local elected officials.

"We're kind of excited," said Steve Oldt, chairman of the Shippensburg Township board of supervisors.

Oldt said he's inclined to support the project because the chosen parcel is miles aways from any significant residential development, but also makes sense for interstate development.

Secondly, he said, with the large amount of university-owned land that is off the property tax rolls, the casino project should provide a significant shot in the arm to the township and school district's tax base.

"We've been waiting for it to happen, and we're looking forward to working with them and trying to make it as pleasant and painless as we can," Oldt told PennLive in a telephone interview.

The company revealed its plan publicly Tuesday afternoon, shortly after filing its formal licensing application.

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