Foxwoods Gets a Little Breather

Much to their delight, the Foxwoods Casino has gotten their approval for the postponement of slot machines in their Philadelphia casino. The tribe had gone to the state and asked them for more time – 21 more months in fact – in order to bring in their slot machines. The state approved the slot machine postponement, but with a warning. 

The casino was given the warning that they were to “stop looking to alternatives” to the site that has already been approved by the state on the Delaware River waterfront. They said that now that the slot machine postponement has been approved, they expect that the casino will “move and move quickly” or they were going to lose their license to have the slot machines altogether.  

The casino has said that they would look into other possible venues for the slot machines as Philly’s citizens, the governor and the mayor of the city have all asked them to reconsider where it went. They said that they were trying to be a good neighbor and look at all of the options before they broke ground. 

There were many in the audience that were hoping that the slot machine license would not get their postponement and wanted the license yanked right then and there. They argued that the slot machines were going to bring in crime and poverty and so they wanted it denied. 

However, this was not to be and Foxwoods said that they would be opening a temporary slot machine casino with 1,500 slot machines by May 2011. They said that the “interim” casino would then eventually become part of a much larger casino on the same site. When the slot machines are brought in and the final casino is completed it will be one of the largest casinos around – and one of two in Philadelphia.