Parx Casino Shippensburg Suffers Setback, Opening Delayed to 2023

Posted on: November 3, 2022, 12:17h. 

Last updated on: March 29, 2023, 06:32h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Parx Casino Shippensburg in Central Pennsylvania is pushing back its planned opening by a few months.

Parx Casino Shippensburg Pennsylvania gambling
An artist’s rendering of Parx Casino Shippensburg. The Pennsylvania satellite gaming property was originally planned to open in November 2022 but has since been delayed until “early 2023.” (Image: Parx Casino Shippensburg)

Parx, the casino brand owned and operated by Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment, a privately held company controlled by the Green family in Pennsylvania, is spending $65 million to transform a former Lowe’s home improvement store into a Category 4 casino.

Category 4 casinos in Pennsylvania are satellite properties tethered to larger full-scale Category 2 licenses. Pennsylvania initially limits satellite brick-and-mortar venues to a maximum of 750 slot machines and 30 table games. Category 2 properties aren’t limited to a maximum number of gaming positions.

Greenwood’s Parx Casino, just north of downtown Philadelphia in Bensalem, is today Pennsylvania’s richest casino in annual gaming revenue. The company secured a Category 4 satellite license by being the high bidder during the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s (PGCB) February 2018 auction round with a winning offer of $8.1 million.

Parx targeted Shippensburg Township, which didn’t opt out of being considered as a Category 4 host location for its satellite development.

Construction Delays

Parx Casino Shippensburg planned to welcome its first guests later this month. Greenwood said Wednesday that unforeseen construction delays because of supply chain disruptions have resulted in additional time being needed.

The Pennsylvania mini-casino is now expected to open in “early 2023.” A more specific timeline wasn’t provided.

When it does commence business, the 73,000-square-foot Parx Casino Shippensburg will offer patrons approximately 500 slot machines and 48 electronic table games. A 100-seat sportsbook with standalone wagering kiosks featuring a restaurant and bar will also lure in guests.

Greenwood is staffing up in anticipation of the casino opening. Parx Shippensburg is holding several job fairs to fill over 50 gaming and non-gaming positions, including table game dealers, slot machine attendants, cocktail servers, bartenders, kitchen staff, waitstaff and bussers, security officers, player hosts, and players services representatives.

Those interested can learn more and apply for one of the many openings on Friday, November 4, from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. ET at the Shippensburg University Conference Center at 500 Newburg Rd.

Next week, Parx Casino Shippensburg will hold daily job fairs on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at The Orchards Restaurant at 1580 Orchard Dr. in Chambersburg.

State Gaming Industry Growth

Pennsylvania residents have more gaming options than ever before. The state has joined New Jersey and Nevada as the three richest gaming states in the US.

Pennsylvania today has 16 brick-and-mortar casinos, 65 truck stops that house slot-like video gaming terminals (VGTs), 19 iGaming websites, 18 retail sportsbooks, and 14 online sports betting platforms.

The commonwealth greatly expanded gaming in 2017 in an effort to bridge a state government funding gap. With the Republican-controlled General Assembly unwilling to pass tax hikes, and Gov. Tom Wolf (D) unwilling to cut spending, the two sides turned to more gambling to resolve their fiscal differences.

As a result, gamblers lost more than $4.7 billion in 2021 — 46% more money than the $3.2 billion the industry won in 2017 before iGaming, sports betting, truck stop VGTs, and satellite casinos.