Berks County is poised to get a casino.
Penn National Gaming Inc. plans to build a $111 million casino near the Morgantown exit on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the company announced Wednesday. Penn National has filed applications with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to locate the mini-casino at a 36-acre site in Caernarvon Township.
Dubbed Hollywood Casino Morgantown, it will host 750 slot machines, 30 table games and a full sports betting lounge. Other amenities will include one signature restaurant, and entertainment lounge and a food court.
The new location is a product in part, the company said, of high highway accessibility: It sits at the intersection of the Turnpike, Interstate 176 and Route 10, also known as the Morgantown Expressway.
"While we explored numerous locations... the site we selected is unparalleled in terms of ease of access to three major arteries," said Timothy Wilmott, Penn National Gaming's chief executive officer.
"Hollywood Casino Morgantown is ideally situated to generate new revenues from the more densely populated suburbs to the west of Philadelphia, while protecting our existing market share at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course near Grantville in Dauphin County," Wilmott added.
The casino is projected to open 18 months after final licensing by the gaming control board and other land development approvals. That likely puts the casino's opening somewhere in the latter half of 2020.
The mini-casino licenses were created last year by the Republican-controlled legislature and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. The mini casinos were part of a larger gambling expansion bill they accepted to resolve a budget deficit.
The law authorized up to 10 of the smaller casinos, intended for second-tier markets across the state. They are required by law to be at least 25 miles from one of Pennsylvania's 12 established casinos.
Penn National Gaming has also acquired a license to build a mini casino near York. To date, licensing rights to five locations have been acquired, including a site to be developed by Parx Casino near Shippensburg, in Cumberland County.
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