HARRISBURG - The state Gaming Control Board is preparing for a possible vote Thursday on awarding the remaining resort casino license.
Fernwood Resort and Hotel in Bushkill is one of four applicants for the license, which can offer patrons up to 600 slot machines and up to 50 table games.
The other applicants are: Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Fayette County; Mason-Dixon Resorts in Gettysburg; and Penn Harris Gambling, west of Harrisburg.
Consideration of the casino license is on the board's meeting agenda, gaming board spokesman Doug Harbach said Friday. That wasn't the case back in January, when a license vote was also anticipated.
The gaming board will meet at the Pennsylvania State Museum in the Capitol Complex to better accommodate a large audience.
The key to a license decision is having all four legislative appointees on the seven-member gaming board voting together to meet a supermajority requirement. The board includes two legislative appointees from Northeast Pennsylvania: former House Speaker Keith McCall of Carbon County and Lackawanna College President Raymond Angeli.
Bushkill's license bid is backed financially by Penn National, which runs Hollywood Casino at Penn National Raceway east of Harrisburg. Penn National would build the casino at Fernwood and operate it if a license is awarded. With more than 900 hotel rooms and timeshares, Fernwood executives hope to attract patrons from New York and northern New Jersey.
Meanwhile, the gaming board has in recent months approved plans by Mount Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs to reduce their number of slot machines.
Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com