For the second time, a planned casino for an underserved area of Western Pennsylvania was denied licensing because of financing issues when the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board denied the application of Mount Airy Casino Resort to license a Category 4 mini-casino in Big Beaver.
Category 4 casinos are satellite facilities of current Category 1 (racino) or Category 2 (stand-alone) casinos, limited to 750 slot machines and 40 table games. They were created under Pennsylvania’s 2017 gaming expansion law to address underserved markets.
Big Beaver is in Beaver County, just north of the line from Lawrence County, the original site of one of the Category 1 racetrack casinos, a project called Lawrence Downs. That project went through several owners but ultimately was unable to provide the proof of financing required for a license. Last week, the board held that Mount Airy had failed to show it could finance the mini-casino.
“We are very disappointed that Mount Airy Casino Resort will not be moving forward with our proposed Category 4 casino in Beaver County,” Todd Greenberg, Mount Airy Casino Resort’s chief operating officer and general manager, said in a statement.
“We would like to thank all of the wonderful Beaver County residents and stakeholders for their efforts. The Beaver County community has been generous and gracious, and we wish them all the best in their future endeavors. Unfortunately, external factors such as increased competition from new casinos and nearby destination resorts had a larger impact on our revenues than originally anticipated. This additional competition combined with other recent developments such as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the local share assessment had a negative impact on our ability to procure financing for the Beaver County project.”
The company had planned to build a casino and entertainment complex on more than 100 acres of land near the intersection of Interstate 376 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Local officials wasted no time in expressing their displeasure with the decisions. “It’s disappointing that representatives from Mount Airy held up prime property in Big Beaver borough that could have been developed into different uses for so long,” said Daniel Camp, chairman of the Beaver County Board of Commissioners, according to the Beaver County Times. “It is a hit to the county. Now, we just need to make sure that we’re working with developers and groups to make that property into something great for Beaver County.”
