- Parx Casino Shippensburg held a two-day testing period last January 23 and 24.
- The casino will officially open its doors to the public on February 3, 2023.
- The Category 4 casino will have 500 slot machines and 30 table games.
Parx Casino in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania is slated to open at 10:00 a.m. on February 3rd. But before the casino is up and running, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board needs to give its final approval. That will come after this week’s testing days.
The PGCB set last Monday and Tuesday ( January 23-24 ) as testing days to make sure that all of the casino’s equipment are functioning and to observe how the casino is being operated. Testing also includes checking if employees have a suitable workplace environment.
No word from the PGCB on how the testing went but casino officials estimated that there were around 400-500 people at the casino during each testing day. According to Parx Casino Shippensburg general manager Kevin Brady, the two-day test run went well.
Per Brady:
Brady also talked about the value of the casino’s workforce:
Proceeds during the two-day test run will be given to charity. Brady said that his company has already identified four local charities that will be the beneficiary of the event.
Parx Casino Shippensburg
Parx Casino Shippensburg is located at 250 Conestoga Drive in Shippensburg County. The 73,000-square-foot casino will occupy one-half of the 139,410-square-foot former Lowe’s Building at that location. The casino’s license holder is GW Cumberland Op Co. which is a company owned by Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, the parent company of Parx Casino in Bensalem.
The $65 million project will feature 500 slot machines, 30 electronic table games, and a high-class sports bar and restaurant that can accommodate 100 persons. The casino is expected to create 100 permanent and 100 temporary jobs upon its opening.
Construction of the Shippensburg casino began last February 22 and the casino was originally targeted to open late last year. However, construction delays and supply chain issues forced it to push back its opening to early 2023.
As a Category 4 casino, Parx Casino Shippensburg is tethered to a larger Category 2 casino license holder – the Parx Casino in Bensalem. As a mini-casino, the Shippensburg gambling facility is allowed to carry 300-750 slot machines and up to 30 table games. Also, these Category 4 casinos are not allowed to be constructed within 25 miles of existing casinos.
2017 Gaming Expansion
During the state’s 2017 gaming expansion, regulators auctioned the rights to establish mini-casinos to companies that already had a flagship gambling property in the state.
As stated earlier, the Shippensburg casino is tethered to the Parx Casino in Bensalem Township, northeast of Philadelphia, which is the top revenue-generating casino in the state. Parx Casino won the 2018 Auction Round with a bid of $8.1 million to open a satellite location.
The Bensalem casino has a 260,000-square-foot gaming area with more than 3,320 slot machines and 188 table games including baccarat, craps, roulette, and poker. It also has a 48-table poker room that hosts tournaments and high-stakes showdowns.
Located adjacent to the Bensalem casino is the 280,000 square foot Parx East, a thoroughbred horse racing venue that holds live horse racing every Saturday through Tuesday, with live thoroughbred horse races beginning at 12:25 p.m. on the said days.
