Penn National Gaming executives received a fairly warm welcome Thursday as they opened their bid to sell Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on development of a mini-casino at the struggling York Galleria Mall.

The project was welcomed by:

Mall ownership, who have been buffeted by the recent loss of several department store anchors. Penn National proposes opening in the main floor of a closed Sears store at the mall's western end.
Township supervisors and business leaders, who are hopeful the new project will not only inoculate the township against having a major blighted property on Route 30, one of York County's major arteries, but will also spur new tourism-related development.
Casino players from the York region, who said they would welcome the chance to enjoy their hobby closer to home.
"Change isn't easy for some of us, and the older we get the less we like change," said Pamela Baum, a nearby resident who was one of several speakers who identified themselves as Penn National patrons.

"But I think this is a positive change for the community and the township. It's a good place to live, a good place to work. And we'd like it to be a good place to play, and gamble a little bit."

Penn National is proposing to open by the first half of 2020 with 500 slot machines, 24 table games and sports betting windows, with the capability to expand to 750 slots and 40 table games.

The property will also have a restaurant and a bar set to stage live entertainment on weekends.

In one key design aspect of the project, Penn officials said their plan is to wall off the Sears building direct entrance into the main mall, since the casino is only open to persons age 21 and older.

"We have intentionally not created a direct access to the mall because we wanted one central area for security purposes as the primary entrance," said Penn's Senior Vice President for Corporate Development Nelson Parker.

Parker noted the company does intend to build an enclosed escalator that will help ferry customers in the mall to that public entrance.

The casino, company officials said, is seen as a chance to grow Penn's business in the York and Lancaster markets. while protecting its flagship Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course north of Harrisburg from competitors.

Because the $36 milion conversion is being fitted into the existing mall, the site is virtually ready to go from a traffic, public utilities and parking standpoint, the casino's Vice President and General Manager Daniel Ihm said.

Penn National's internal studies, Ihm said, suggest only relatively minor adjustments will be needed to local traffic patterns, and a new load on the police department of about only 4 calls per month.

The township, however, stands to gain about $1 million annually in host municipality payments if the casino hits its gaming revenue targets.

Additionally, officials said the casino and its patrons will generate about $64 million in sustained annual economic activity outside the project's doors in Springettsbury, growing to more than $90 million in York County as a whole. 

While Springettsburgy's decision to reverse its initial casino ban earlier this year has sparked some blowback from local residents, only light opposition to the project was voiced to the state board Thursday.

Resident Bradley Culbertson presented a petition signed by 38 of his neighbors whom he said shared his concern about the social costs of gambling.

Another York Township resident, Duane Patterson, warned the board the lack of opposition speakers could be misleading.

He complained the process by which supervisors opened the door to the project left little opportunity for public discussion, and said he believes many opponents have simply resigned themselves to something they now see as inevitable.

The objectors were off-set by several voices who expressed a consensus that the project seemed like the right fit at the right time for Springettsbury.

Resident Steven Wolf said York County has had a long history of taking a back seat to neighboring Lancaster and Adams Counties (Gettysburg) when it comes to attracting tourism spending.

"They enjoyed themselves in Lancaster County and the Amish Country, and then they drove right through... right into Gettysburg.

"Now we have an opportunity with a casino that's right off Route 30. And if the chamber of commerce got behind it, it could be a real asset to the county for additional entertainment," Wolf said.

"We favor all reasonable economic development," said Don Bishop of the Springettsbury Business Association, "And specifically from what I've heard today that appears to be a very reasonable economic development project."

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