Central PA Casino One Step Closer To Opening With License Approval

State College, Pennsylvania (WTAJ) – It took more than two years for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) to approve the proposed Center County mini-casino.

According to a PGCB press release, the PGCB on Wednesday unanimously approved a license for a mini casino in Nittany Mall in College Township to SC Gaming OpCo, LLC, which is owned by Bally’s Corporation.

Even if the license is approved by the board, it does not mean that the casino will still be built. No license can be issued until all appeals have been exhausted. This means that competing casino organizations may appeal.

Their competitor, the Live! Casino Hotel Philadelphia, previously claimed SC Gaming shouldn’t even be licensed in the first place.

In a Category 4 auction, businessman Ira Lubert won the rights to build a casino after winning for $10,000,101 in early September 2020. Then, in January 2021, he submitted an application to place the casino in a space within the mall. It used to be a Macy’s department store.

Casinos with a Category 4 license are permitted to have between 300 and 750 slot machines and are permitted to operate 30 gaming tables, with a further 10 operating one year after opening. You can even add a table.

An opening date for the casino has yet to be announced, but construction is expected to cost $35 million and employ 350 people. Construction is expected to take a year to complete.