Penn National Gaming has decided to walk out of Lawrence County casino project. Company officials said that the reason that has led to that decision was the increased competition from casinos located in the western part of Pennsylvania.
Mere hours ago, Penn National representatives announced their intention to discontinue their involvement in the project. In other words, they are going to end their partnership with Endeka Entertainment, the company engaged in the casino construction.
The Lawrence Downs Casino and Racing Resort is a project estimated to cost $225 million and Penn National was to operate the soon-to-be-established property.
However, as already reported, Penn National executives requested its pulling out of the Lawrence Downs project.
According to the initial plan, submitted back in 2013, Penn National, headquartered in Wyomissing, was to manage as many as 1250 slot machines, harness racing and 50 table games.
The Chief Development Officer of Penn National Gaming, BJ Fair, said in a special statement on the matter that Penn National executives are, by and large, disappointed with the fact that they will no longer be part of the project.
Yet, they admitted that the condition of the economy in Western Pennsylvania and in the Commonwealth in general is not stable enough to justify their investment. In addition, the market is already saturated, which makes the establishment of another casino not too profitable venture.
It was also said in the aforementioned statement that Penn National wanted court approval for walking out of the project and announced that they are willing to transfer their responsibilities to another company, which will operate the casino. In conclusion, Mr. Fair was quoted saying that the support of local people has been highly appreciated.
As far as the Lawrence County Casino project is concerned, it managed to attract a lot of opponents. The executives of Rivers Casino and Meadows Casino and Racetrack seem to be particularly worried about the intensified competition they will have to face once the casino starts luring their customers.
Although Penn National Gaming is not going to work in collaboration with Endeka Entertainment, local officials expressed their hopes that the project will move forward. They said the county will not withdraw its support from Endeka and the casino project will advance even if that means Endeka to find a new business partner.
