Category 3 License on Agenda For Gaming Control Board's April 14th Meeting

Meeting location changed to State Museum

HARRISBURG, Pa., April 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --  The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced today that the agenda for its Thursday, April 14^th public meeting will include consideration of the available Category 3 license to operate a slot machine casino at a resort hotel.

The Board additionally announced that it has changed the venue for that meeting from the North Office Building to the Pennsylvania State Museum in order to better accommodate those interested in attending.  The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:30 am.  

A complete agenda for the meeting will be posted on the Board's web site, www.pgcb.state.pa.us, prior to the meeting.

Four applicants have applied for the existing Category 3 license, one of two such licenses currently permitted under the Gaming Act.  The Board had previously awarded a Category 3 license to the Valley Forge Convention Center.

In consideration for the award are:

• Mason-Dixon Resorts, LP, to be located at the Eisenhower Hotel, Conference Center and Resort in Cumberland Township, Adams County;
• Woodlands Fayette, LLC, to be located at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Wharton Township, Fayette County;
• Penn Harris Gaming, LP, to be located at the Park Inn Harrisburg West, Hampden Township, Cumberland County; and
• Bushkill Group, Inc., to be located at the Fernwood Hotel and Resort, Middle Smithfield Township, Monroe County.

The Gaming Act specifies that the resort hotel must have no fewer than 275 guest rooms under common ownership, be more than 15 linear miles from any other Pennsylvania-licensed slot machine casino, and already offer substantial year-round recreational guest amenities on their premises.  This category of casino license permits the operation of up to 600 slot machines and up to 50 table games.

In addition, the Act, and accompanying regulations established by the Board, restricts who can enter the gaming area of a Category 3 casino.  Those permitted to utilize the gaming facility include registered overnight guests and patrons utilizing one or more of the resort-offered amenities.

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board was established in 2004 with the passage of Act 71, also known as the Race Horse Development and Gaming Act.  Pennsylvania's first new state agency in nearly 40 years, the Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of the state's casino industry.  Currently, the ten casinos in operation in the Commonwealth employ over 14,000 living persons.  Casino gaming is also providing the revenue for property tax reduction, funds that have reinvigorated Pennsylvania's horse racing industry, and a new stream of tax revenue to local governments that is funding community projects.  A wealth of information about the Gaming Control Board and Pennsylvania's gaming industry can be found at www.pgcb.state.pa.us.  At this web site, visitors can view videos of Board meetings and on the operation of the PGCB, obtain information on identifying a gambling problem and gaining assistance, look up future meeting schedules and past meeting transcripts, access an interactive map of casino locations, request a speaker for their group, along with much more information.

CONTACT:
Doug Harbach or Richard McGarvey
(717) 346-8321

SOURCE Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board