HARRISBURG - State gambling regulators Wednesday renewed the state casino operator's license of Mount Airy Casino Resort for three years after hearing details of a $4.5 million project to build a swimming pool complex at the casino in Monroe County.
Mount Airy executives told the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board at a public hearing prior to the license renewal vote that a recent debt-refinancing agreement with lenders has improved the casino's financial position.
The license renewal comes in the wake of the agreement last April with JPMorgan Chase to reduce Mount Airy's debt from $271 million to $165 million. It also follows the board's approval last June of a corporate restructuring plan for Mount Airy that enabled founder Louis A. DeNaples, a Dunmore businessman, to complete plans to transfer control of the casino to his children.
Mount Airy will tap cash revenues to build the swimming pool next summer, said general manager John Culetsu. The project will include both outdoor and indoor pools, a restaurant, bar and jacuzzi. This amenity will help complete the goal of making Mount Airy a destination resort, he said.
The opening of a new golf clubhouse with a restaurant last spring is part of that plan.