Mini casino expected to open at Westmoreland Mall
A small-scale casino is expected to open at the site of the closing Bon-Ton store at Westmoreland Mall, the Tribune-Review has learned.
An announcement making the location official could come as soon as Wednesday.
State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, said Tuesday she was briefed by officials with Stadium Casino LLC, the Maryland-based company that in January purchased a $40.1 million license to open one of 10 mini casinos in Pennsylvania.
Stadium Casino officials on Tuesday did not respond to requests for comment. The company has until Friday to formally file paperwork declaring its plans for the casino.
Ward said she was notified that a formal application would be filed Wednesday with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in Harrisburg detailing plans for the casino that she said is expected to generate $120 million in economic impact for Westmoreland County.
"This will revitalize the mall property, and it goes beyond the casino," Ward said.
She said plans call for the casino to feature 750 slot machines and 30 table games during the first year of operation. It will employee 440 full-time casino workers and in all operate with a staff of 600.
The company projects there will be 150 construction jobs to renovate the facility while another 600 jobs could be indirectly created as a result of the casino development, Ward said.
Stadium Casino officials have made no formal announcements about plans for its Westmoreland casino. The company initially identified a location in Derry Township as the central point of a 15-mile radius where it can install the gaming facility. The mall area property falls within that boundary.
The mall is owned by CBL Properties in Chattanooga, Tenn. It sits on 105 acres in Hempfield along Route 30, about three miles east of Greensburg. It has more than 170 stores within the mall and a strip of businesses at the rear of the property.
The two-floor Bon-Ton space is one of four anchors at the mall. It is expected to close in early August and for several weeks has been liquidating merchandise and other items, according to CBL spokeswoman Stacey Keating.
"We are still evaluating our redevelopment plans for the Bon-Ton site," Keating said.
The state gaming board earlier this year auctioned off five of the 10 available licenses for the mini casinos. Other small gaming facilities are expected to be built in Lawrence, York, Lancaster and Cumberland counties.
Westmoreland County and Hempfield officials said earlier this week they have had no discussions with Stadium Casino in regard to the company's plans for the casino.
Stadium Casino is a partnership between Cordish Companies and Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, which runs Parx Casino in Bucks County. The joint company is the developer of several large-scale casino and retail development projects, including a $600 million project in Philadelphia that is projected to open in 2020.
