Bethlehem wins casino
Louis DeNaples' Mount Airy is other area winner By Christina Gostomski, Matt Assad and Matt Birkbeck Call Harrisburg Bureau | The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board unanimously approved licenses for five casino projects Wednesday in a decision that's expected to alter the economy, character and basic needs of some of the state's most popular tourist spots, including Bethlehem and the Poconos.
Board members rejected an impassioned plea from Allentown officials, who had hoped a slots parlor would propel the city out of its fiscal woes, and shut out the largest casino planned anywhere in the state - a $3 billion project designed by Pocono Manor for Tobyhanna Township.
The board also snubbed a Philadelphia casino plan pitched by real estate mogul Donald Trump, and a bitterly contested slots parlor proposed near Gettysburg National Military Park.
Lengthy court appeals could follow, but board Chairman Tad Decker and Gov. Ed Rendell stood by the board's decision on the 13 casino applicants, which included owners and investors who are celebrities and millionaires. ''They were great applicants, really good applications,'' Decker said.
For the place known as Christmas City, the decision could mean a change in character and identity. More immediately, it means that a more than $600 million South Side development project that has spent months in a holding pattern can take flight.
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