The state of Pennsylvania continues ahead with the extensive plan to introduce a total of ten mini-casino venues across the state and to find them a suitable location which would not contradict existing gambling facilities. This Thursday saw the official third auction taking place and the bidder filing in the largest proposed amount of money for construction was the management of the Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Pocono Mountains.
The winning bid amounted to some $21.2 million and this secured the top position for the family which oversees the operation of the gambling resort over the rest of the entities willing to operate the third location. The satellite casino will be constructed in Lawrence County which was welcomed with great content by the community there. It could be recalled that for years the region has been looking for ways to build their own gambling facility, while several investors have tried making it happen through the years.
The opportunity has now presented itself with the help of the third mini casino auction which granted the area with the chance to welcome its first casino facility. Vincent Jordan is the Vice President of Mount Airy and he said that for the time being the developer has not chosen an exact location for the future construction site, but one of the estimated sites for construction might be within 15 miles of New Castle. In the meantime, the authorities seem eager to have the new facility in their area.
Lawrence County Commissioner Dan Vogler expressed his position that the community will benefit a lot from the new location. According to this estimations, the new mini-casino will be able to attract gambling enthusiasts from as many as five other counties located in the vicinity of Lawrence County. Since the area is situated close to the Ohio border this could result in players traveling from the neighboring state in order to participate in gambling activities.
Mini Casinos Auctions Timeline
This will result in a fresh inflow of gambling revenue to the region which will benefit a wide range of projects and will introduce many improvements to the life in the county. There were a total of three offers filed in for this auction, the other two being by Parx Casino in suburban Philadelphia which is overseen by London-based businessman Watche Manoukian, and the Las Vegas Sands-owned Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem. As the new gambling location joins the previous two auctioned sites, we make a throwback to the timeline of events.
It could be recalled that the first auction which aimed to appoint a location took place on 10th January and was won by Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association LLC which managed to file in the largest bid among all participants. It amounted to some $50.1 million and secured a lead for the operator’s proposed location in the York area. Exactly two weeks after that, on 24th January the second bid was held and this time the winner was Stadium Casino LLC. The developer proposed $40.1 million for the construction of a mini-casino facility within a 15-mile radius of Derry Township, Westmoreland County.
