Parx Casino Shippensburg on track to open in Pennsylvania
June 29, 2022
Soon, there will be yet another new casino in Pennsylvania. The Shippensburg Parx Casino is on track to open this year. It will start building in February and will open in November 2022. About 100 people will work at the casino full-time, and another 100 will work part-time or seasonally.
The 73,000-square-foot mini casino will be built where a Lowe's used to be in Shippensburg. Parx is already planning to use the rest of the space in the building to grow.
The updates of Park Casino Shippensburg
A mini casino known as Parx Casino Shippensburg received authorization from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on January 19 to begin offering table games. Chief Operating Officer at Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment John Dixon said that it is planned that the Parx Casino Shippensburg will exclusively provide electronic table games that feature a live dealer (blackjack, roulette, baccarat, 3-card poker).
He also said that the place is an excellent spot to attract customers from Hagerstown and other parts of western Maryland. The Parx Casino Shippensburg will be smoke-free, just like the Parx Casino in Bensalem.
According to PlayPennsylvania, Dixon says, “In Bensalem, we remained non-smoking even when smoking was permitted again. We found our customers prefer a non-smoking environment. We plan to do the same thing in Shippensburg.”
Representatives have stated that they intend to develop the big empty site next to the mini-casino to provide room for future growth of the Parx Casino Shippensburg.
Mini-casino’s timeline
In February 2018, Parx won an auction for $8.1 million to build a Category 4 casino in Cumberland County. Parx paid $8.1 million for the rights to a satellite location, but its first two planned locations, in Carlisle Borough and South Middleton Township. It was not developed because the municipalities refused to remove the casino opt-clauses they had exercised under the 2017 gaming law.
Then, in October 2018, a gaming application was continued to be submitted to the PGCB once the Township of Shippensburg was chosen as the location for the proposed development.
In April 2019, a petition was filed to get permission to offer table games. The petition was changed in May 2021, and a $2.5 million fee was paid. Then, in May 2021, Parx Casino held public input hearing. Last, in January 2022, the Parx Casino was permitted to offer table games.
Projected economic benefits of the Parx mini-casino
Sarah Stoner of Eckert Seamans says, “We are pleased to move the project forward and be one step closer to the Commonwealth and the local Shipp community realizing the benefits of the project.”
At the monthly meeting of the PGCB in January 2022, representatives from Parx presented some of the predicted economic benefits of the Parx mini-casino located in Shippensburg.
During the construction, the project created 175 jobs and added $65 million to the economy. It also brought in $1.5 million in tax money for the state.
There will be 125 new permanent jobs, and the state's economy is expected to grow by $60 million annually. The state will also get $25 million more in taxes from gambling, income, and businesses.
Parx said to PlayPennsylvania that its benefits package was the best in the gaming industry in the area. The average salary at Parx will be $48,700 per year.
Local share funds will bring in a total of $1.8 million per year for Shippensburg Township and Cumberland County. Also, because the value of the property has increased, the new casino will bring in more property taxes.
