The CEO of the company behind the planned casino at the Nittany Mall on Thursday addressed concerns of community members who oppose it, but emphasized that the project is happening, despite the recent departure of development partner Bally’s.
Speaking at the regular meeting of College Township Council, SC Gaming CEO Eric Pearson devoted most of his remarks to residents who voiced worries about the casino. He said he will continue the conversation on Friday, when he will be available to discuss the project from 3 to 6 p.m. in the township building, 1481 E. College Ave.
“It is very important to us that you understand that we hear you, and that we court and openly want to have a dialogue,” Pearson said.
Nearly a dozen people spoke before Pearson’s presentation, all but one of whom said they opposed the casino. Many reiterated concerns they have expressed over the past four years about gambling addiction, especially among students at nearby Penn State, an influx of crime and skepticism that the casino would be an economic boon.
Since Bally’s announced a week ago that it was withdrawing from the project, some critics have seen a new opportunity to try to convince SC Gaming and its owner, Ira Lubert, to abandon the casino altogether.
“The decision to build a casino so close to Penn State University, with its large student body, is predatory, exploitative, short-sighted and egregious,” said State College resident Andrew Shaffer, a leading critic of the project over the past several years. “These are not characteristics for which we believe Mr. Lubert wants to be known.
“We have exhausted every avenue of appeal and every argument of reason in our efforts to protect Penn State’s students and the surrounding community from the harms that will be caused by this casino. We now appeal to Mr. Lubert’s sense of decency and his character, and his desire to leave a positive legacy in the Penn State community.”
Other speakers were under the mistaken impression that the township was in a position to stop the project, and one asked if it could be a ballot referendum for voters to decide.
Those issues were discussed at great length two years ago, and the township’s solicitor advised that taking steps to stop the development would create significant legal exposure. College Township chose not to opt out as a casino host site when given the opportunity to do so in late 2017 and council conditionally approved a land development plan for the casino at the former Macy’s property at the mall in 2021. The time to opt out had long since passed, and council could not deny or rescind a land development plan that met ordinance requirements.
“I want to just definitively state, this casino project is coming,” Pearson said, adding that residents who want to have a voice in the project should come to the meeting with him on Friday. He added that he is “happy to have as many of these sessions,” as community members want, and they can also reach out to him directly.
Construction on the casino is expected to start by the beginning of 2025 and take about 12 months to complete, he said.
But Pearson said he and Lubert understood the concerns that have been raised.
During his public comment, Shaffer cited statistics that suggest the gambling addiction rate among college students is 6%, and that 20% of gambling addicts will attempt suicide.
“Problem gambling is a real thing,” Pearson agreed. “We are very well aware of this and work very, very diligently to combat these kinds of things. I know of no other industry, whether that’s alcohol or cannabis or whatever else, that, anything else that does more to educate its team members [than we do] on how to deal with problem gambling, how to identify it.”
He added that in his experience running Valley Forge Casino, which Lubert developed, “I don’t think I can remember ever seeing college student-age customers at any sort of size or frequency at that property.”
“College students make really crummy casino customers for a variety of reasons,” Pearson said.
He also addressed comments from community members who said they want to see different kinds of development in the Dale Summit area instead of a casino — like Costco or Bass Pro Shops. The casino, which is expected to employ 350 to 400 people in full-time positions, can be an economic driver, he said.
“We wholeheartedly agree,” Pearson said. “We want those kinds of developments to come in and we are really excited because we think this casino project is going to be able to make all those other things possible in an area where it has not materialized because we do not have sort of critical center of gravity necessary in order to spur on that kind of development from national firms.”
The departure of Bally’s, which Pearson described as amicable and mutual, has had no impact on the plans for the $123 million project. The framework agreement reached in 2021 offered benefits “to not just be a complete standalone company,” Pearson said, but SC Gaming has extensive experience from Lubert’s previous development of Valley Forge Casino and ownership in Rivers Casino Pittsburgh.
“Other than changing the name on the side of the building, there was no difference,” Pearson said. W”e were always developing the casino. It was our group that was building it, making all of the decisions, and none of that changed with Bally’s departure.”
Lubert won a 2020 auction for a category 4 casino license with a bid of $10 million, but the project stalled amid a protracted legal battle brought by a rival bidder. That was resolved in July when the state Supreme Court upheld the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s decision to award SC Gaming the license.
According to plans detailed at an August 2021 public hearing, the casino in the 94,000-square-foot anchor spot at the mall will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It will have 750 slot machines, 30 table games and sports betting along with a sports-themed restaurant and bar with an entertainment stage and a multi-outlet quick-serve food court.
All aspects of the casino, which will be non-smoking, will be open only to individuals age 21 and older, including the restaurant and food court. It will have two exterior public entrances and one from inside the mall, with ID scanning employed at each.
