Cordish Companies’ Live! Casino Pittsburgh announced its plans for a Grand Opening to the public on November 24. It will be Pennsylvania’s first Category 4 casino to open. Sometimes called “mini-casinos,” these facilities were created under Pennsylvania’s 2017 gaming expansion law. They must be tied to an existing Category 1 (racino) or Category 2 (stand-alone) casino license.
In this case, the license is held by Stadium Casino, the Cordish subsidiary that owns the license for Philadelphia’s second casino, Live! Hotel and Casino Philadelphia in the city’s Stadium District, which is expected to open early next year.
Live! Casino Pittsburgh occupies a 100,000-square-foot space that formerly was a Bon Ton anchor store in the Westmoreland Mall, in suburban Hempfield Township, around 30 miles from Pittsburgh. The $150 million casino will offer the Category 4 maximum 750 slot machines, and 30 table games. The casino can petition regulators to add another 10 table games after opening.
The property also will feature a FanDuel Sportsbook (both retail and mobile), two restaurants, and a Sport & Social Steel City sports bar.
Prior to opening, the casino will hold charity events November 14-15 to benefit the Westmoreland County Food Bank. There is a ribbon-cutting ceremony slated for November 17, with the Grand Opening Celebration slated for November 24.
“We’re going ‘Live!’ to the general public on November 24th,” said Live! Casino General Manager Sean Sullivan in an interview session with local TV news reporters. “Live! Casino is the latest world-class venue to be opened by The Cordish Companies. It’s going to up the ante on entertainment for everyone in the Greater Pittsburgh region.”
Live! has developed a “Play It Safe” comprehensive plan to safeguard against the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on mask requirements, temperature checks, social distancing, and repeated cleaning of high-traffic areas, slot machines and table games.
“Our priority is to provide a safe environment for our team members and guests,” Sullivan said. “We’ve gone through extraordinary measures to meet and exceed the state’s Covid-19 guidelines to ensure all of our guests have fun and feel safe.”
