Mall revitalization, gambling concerns & more: Public hearing held for proposed Centre County casino
Local elected officials, business owners and residents had their first chance to share their views about a proposed mini-casino at the Nittany Mall on Monday night during a public hearing of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
While those who spoke Monday were largely in support of the project, the PGCB received 49 written comments through its website from those voicing support and objections to the proposal.
Ira Lubert, winning bidder and sole member of SC Gaming, LLC, told the board he thought the category 4 casino would “reinvigorate” the mall and draw new businesses to the surrounding area.
“This in turn will create jobs and help drive the region’s economy. And with Penn State’s immense alumni base and other visitors flooding into the area throughout the year, not just football season, we will provide a new entertainment venue that everyone can enjoy,” Lubert said during the hearing at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center.
Eric Pearson, the prospective casino’s CEO, gave an overview of the project and timeline. Bally’s has partnered with Lubert to design, develop, construct and manage the casino.
The proposed 94,000-square-foot casino has a $123 million budget. They would use the existing structure of Macy’s, which is about 94,000 square feet and construction would take about a year. A sports book and a sports-themed restaurant and bar, which will have a live entertainment element to it (“smaller acts,” he said, like DJs or stand up), and a separate, quick serve food and beverage multi-outlet area are in the plans.
“We really envision the casino being able to serve as a catalyst for revitalization within the Nittany Mall, which is currently at about 50% occupied,” Pearson said.
Revitalization was a common theme in comments from the public and local government officials who spoke at the meeting.
“As you’re well aware, the Nittany Mall ... has become more and more vacant as businesses there have made a mass exit. This facility, once a community asset, is no longer drawing people from outside the area,” said Mark Long, district manager for Rep. Kerry Benninghoff. “Representative Benninghoff applauds the effort to repurpose this space and make it more vibrant while finding ways to keep local people employed and our economy moving ahead.”
State Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, and Eric Bernier, chair of the College Township Council, were also on hand to share their support of the project.
Polly Welch, general manager of the Nittany Mall, said the challenges the mall faces — online shopping, for instance — allows them to think in a different way. The casino gives them an opportunity to do so, she said. With just the possibility of the casino, she said she has received numerous inquiries from people interested in leasing space.
She also thinks the casino would change the mall’s demographic.
“Right now, those that typically shop at a brick and mortar, their ages are a little older, we’ll say 35 and older. The potential of something like this occurring in close proximity, would help that demographic lower to hopefully bring some more of the students who are in their early to late 20s to start shopping in a brick and mortar again,” Welch said.
Dave Gerdes, vice president of sales and marketing for Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, said the casino would increase travel to the area for not only leisure but would also help to attract other segments, like the group tour market, meeting segment and the amateur sports market.
Two residents spoke against the proposal.
“There are more poor people in Centre County than most citizens recognize. A casino will not provide sustenance for the poor, underemployed and desperate,” Carl Miller, of Bellefonte, said. “On the contrary, casino gambling entices the poor to risk an already inadequate means of support on an exceedingly slim chance of financial gain.”
Carl Hill, of Benner Township, is a retired United Methodist pastor. He shared a 2016 statement from The United Methodist Church regarding gambling, which read that gambling “is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic and spiritual life, destructive of good government and good stewardship.”
Hill and College Township resident Pat Vernon also warned the casino executives about potential parking issues at the mall. Vernon is in favor of the casino but encouraged them to look into building a parking deck.
The opinions gathered Monday will be taken into account during a separate public hearing in Harrisburg, which is expected to occur in late fall. There, casino representatives, PGCB’s board members and the PGCB’s Office of Enforcement Counsel will be present. The board will vote during, or shortly after, the hearing on whether to formally approve the application. If it’s approved, construction can then officially begin.
A recording of the public hearing can be watched on the PGCB’s website.
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 10:53 AM.
