Isle of Capri is to open its $60m Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin in the US state of Pennsylvania this summer.
This comes seven years after the operator lost out on a gaming licence in Pittsburgh in the same state. “It will be water under the bridge. We do business the way we do business,” said Jill R Alexander, a senior spokeswoman with the company that bid on the state casino licence that went to Majestic Star and became Rivers Casino on the North Shore. “We're building a casino we and the Hardys can be proud of.”
Joseph Hardy, who founded 84 Lumber Co, built Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in 1987. The resort that his daughter, Maggie Hardy Magerko, now owns is partnering with Isle of Capri to run the casino licensed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in 2011.
Their Class 3 licence allows up to 600 slot machines and 28 table games — additions designed to bolster tourism at the resort. Patrons must spend at least $10 at Nemacolin before being allowed into the casino, per state law governing that type of licence.
Of the state's 11 casinos, only Valley Forge Casino Resort near King of Prussia has a similar licence. Valley Forge opened in March 2012 as the state's smallest casino with 600 slot machines and 50 table games. Rivers has nearly 3,000 slots machines and 116 table games. The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Washington County has 3,300 slot machines and 80 table games.
Lady Luck could open in late June or early July, said Michael Giunti, the casino's marketing director. About 400 people will get permanent jobs at the casino and its bars and restaurant. About half of the positions remain open, Giunti said at the beginning of May.
Isle of Capri had at one time hoped to land the $50m licence to open Pittsburgh's casino. In a plan that the Pittsburgh Penguins owners backed, Isle of Capri pledged to pay $290m for construction of a multipurpose arena if selected.
In a contentious decision, gaming officials in 2006 awarded the license to Majestic Star Casino and the late Don Barden. That might have been a blessing for Isle of Capri, given the recession that followed, Alexander said. “That's the nature of gaming. It's a competitive industry.”
