Officials break ground on new casino

Showgirls in fishnet stockings and white fur coats passed out champagne and silver shovels during Tuesday afternoon’s groundbreaking ceremonies for a new Philadelphia Park Casino off Street Road.

Greenwood Gaming CEO Robert Green used the event to personally thank gambling regulators, along with the state, county and township officials who’ll oversee the project that is expected to cost $350 million.

It could take a nearly two years to construct the 225,000-square-foot casino near the existing grandstands and racetrack in Bensalem, Green said. When complete, the new building could house as many as 4,000 slot machines and employ 1,000 people, officials said.

The current blueprint provides for a food court, restaurants, a ballroom and convention space in a one-story building roughly the same size as Macy’s at the Neshaminy Mall.

Gamblers already have dumped $4 billion into 2,000 slot machines in the grandstands, according to the state. Of that amount, roughly $205 million has gone to the state Legislature, horse racing and economic funds, officials said.

Gaming Board Chairwoman Mary DiGiacomo Colins called Philadelphia Park Casino "a new economic engine for Pennsylvania that has been firing up on all cylinders since the day it opened."

Bensalem Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo said he was pleased to see Greenwood Gaming "living up to its commitments [to build a standalone casino]. I don’t know if anyone of you can imagine what $350 million looks like. But it’s a whole lot of money to put into this development."

Gov. Ed Rendell was scheduled as a keynote speaker Tuesday, but Green said, he was stuck in traffic on I-95, which is undergoing emergency repairs in the Port Richmond section of the city. The Bensalem High School Jazz Band traded in pep songs for "Fly Me to the Moon — Bossa Nova" popularized by Frank Sinatra.