Nemacolin Gets Gaming License

The Pittsburgh region is getting a third casino. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board voted 6-1 this morning to award the state's last "resort casino" license to Nemacolin Woodlands in Fayette County. The permit allows for 600 slot machines, and if the board approves, a maximum of 50 table games. Nemacolin beat out three other applicants: the Fernwood Hotel & Resort in the Poconos; a Holiday Inn in suburban Harrisburg; and, Mason Dixon Resorts near Gettysburg, which generated opposition from Civil War preservationists. 84 Lumber CEO and Nemacolin founder Joe Hardy was very pleased..... "Thrilled, thrilled...I'd like to be able to jump, but I can't. But, yeah, it's great, great..Super Bowl." Isle of Capri Casinos will operate the gaming at Nemacolin. Paul Keller, senior vice president for Isle of Capri, says Nemacolin will have a unique casino.... "I think what helped us out was the (Gaming Control) Board realized that this license was designed to boost tourism for the state of Pennsylvania, and there's nobody that can compete with Nemacolin in terms of tourism." Officials at the Meadows Racetrack and Casino in neighboring Washington County opposed Nemacolin's application, arguing that with the Pittsburgh Rivers Casino and the Meadows, the region was already saturated with gaming.