The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today announced that it has set a March 25 public input hearing to collect testimony on the proposed establishment of a mini-casino near Shippensburg Township
The mini-casino project is being pitched by Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, Inc., known to be the owner of Parx Casino in Bensalem. Greenwood submitted its application for the new gaming facility this past fall.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said in a press release from earlier today that it will hold its public input hearing on March 25, 2019 at the Conference Center at Shippensburg University. It is set to begin at 4 pm local time.
Under Pennsylvania gambling law, the state’s gambling regulator must hold a hearing within the municipality where a mini-casino is proposed to be built. The purpose of the event is to provide individuals with the opportunity to voice their opinion on whether a facility of this kind should be authorized in the area they inhabit and to learn more about the project.
The Gaming Control Board said today that it will be accepting written testimony on the project until March 22, 2019. Those who want to attend and speak at the hearing will have to register until March 22 on the regulator’s website in order to be able to participate in the public debate.
The Pennsylvania gambling regulator will include all the information it collects, in both written and oral form, in the report on which its decision to grant or deny a mini-casino license to Greenwood will be based.
Details about the Shippensburg Casino
Parx Casino’s owner won last February the right to build a mini-casino in the Shippensburg area. Greenwood’s $8.111 million bid was selected over an offer made by Sands Bethlehem owner Las Vegas Sands.
According to Greenwood’s application, the gaming facility will be visible from Interstate 81 and will be easily accessed from Exit 29 of the highway. The company’s original plans include 475 slot machines and several dozens of table games. Once operational, the mini-casino will be part of a community that is home to 300,000 residents within a 25-mile radius.
Shippensburg was one of a flurry of South Central Pennsylvania municipalities that agreed to host a mini-casino under a sweeping gambling expansion package signed by Gov. Tom Wolf in the fall of 2017. The measure authorized the establishment of up to 10 new mini-casinos across the state that are permitted to operate between 300 and 750 slot machines and up to 30 table games. Each of the smaller facilities is required to be located at least 25 miles from one of Pennsylvania’s 12 full-blown casinos.
The mini-casinos are also allowed to offer sports betting as long as their parent companies are authorized to provide the service. Greenwood has said previously that its plans for the Shippensburg facility include the addition of a sports bar, but it is yet to be confirmed whether it would feature a sportsbook.
The gambling operator expects to open its mini-casino in the second half of 2020.
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