Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Harrah’s marks 10 years of operations in Chester
CHESTER >> Today marks the 10th anniversary of harness racing in Chester. Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack called a it “proud moment” and a reason to celebrate 10 years in the market and its “ongoing partnership with the community.”
And yet at one point in Pennsylvania the view of gambling was not so positive. Horse racing was dwindling in popularity and the state struggled to even find companies who wanted to snatch up two of six available harness racing licenses.
And then a grandiose plan to develop the waterfront of Chester came to the forefront.
The climate of gambling in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania had a much different atmosphere in the early 2000s. Horse racing for years stood as the only form of gambling legalized in the state, save for the games of chance with the Pennsylvania State Lottery, but casinos were much maligned until then-Gov. Ed Rendell promoted casino gambling as a way to stave off rising school property taxes.
“My whole goal was tax relief for seniors, because seniors live on fixed incomes, and as property taxes kept rising they had no ability to cope with them,” Rendell told the Associated Press in 2014. “This has been wildly successful.”
Behind the push for legalized gambling in the state was a push for the advancement of racing licenses, and with those a joining of harness racing and casinos, which are now classified as the top tier Category 1 casino, or racino, in Pennsylvania.
In 2004, while harness racing was declining in the state, the passing of the Gaming Act, the vision of a combined casino and racetrack had given Delaware County and Chester a new vision with what to do with the abandoned Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. along the Delaware River.
Delaware County Council was approached by George Miller, an attorney from New Jersey who was experienced with gambling legislation, Joe Lashinger, a former Pennsylvania House member, and Kevin Flynn, the developer responsible for building the casino, who proposed the then-titled Chester Downs.
“There was a limited number of licenses in the state,” said Delaware County Councilman John McBlain. “No one wanted the harness licenses, because harness tracks were not successful, but the idea of having a harness track, Lashinger was confident that coming down the line would be gaming legislation and the first licenses for gaming casinos would be at racetracks.”
Delaware County signed an agreement to sell the trio the contract to the land with the promise that the Chester Downs developers would remediate the significant environmental problems from the shipyard. They agreed that 4 percent of gross gaming revenue — with 2 percent going to the county and 2 percent to the city — would be paid in addition to the state gaming tax.
However, the county found it was in a battle with a developer who wanted to utilize the Philadelphia Navy Yard and build a racetrack and casino there. Considering the state had limited contracts available, and the influence of Rendell, the chance the Chester Downs would win the racing contract dwindled.
The state Legislature was able to temporarily halt the granting of applications for harness racing until the Delaware County Redevelopment Authority got enough public pressure on the racing commission to grant the contract.
“We subpoenaed the Secretary of Agriculture,” McBlain said. “They were not amused, but it had the intended effect ... it threw open the process in the (Pennsylvania) Harness Racing Commissions’ decision making process.”
Afterwards the commission approved the Chester Downs development plan, which McBlain said was cause for celebration in Chester.
“We knew we’d not only have the harness racing li-
cense, but also the casino,” McBlain said.
On Sunday, Sept. 10, 2006, the Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack opened its first racing season. And in the ten years since, the financial relief granted from Harrah’s now accounts for 35 perfect of the city’s revenue. Harrah’s hit a peak in 2011 when it was producing $13.8 million to the city in host and community fees.
In the years since, other casinos have popped up in the area; Parx Casino and Racetrack in Northeast Philadelphia added table gambling in 2009, which Chester City Councilman Nafis Nichols called a “saturation of casinos in the area.”
“When Harrah’s revenues are down, the city’s revenues are down,” Nichols said.
Yet, with Harrah’s, Talen Energy Stadium and the Wharf at Rivertown, the benefits of the Keystone Opportunity Zone, which incentivized businesses to establish in blighted areas has helped Chester building the basis for economic development: attractions and business.
In 2011, PennDOT finished construction on a $71.1 million project that enabled quick access to the waterfront.
“The water is a great location, going back that was the reason why the old Sun Shipyard was identified as a harness race track,” McBlain said. “It was the location where you could draw that kind of crowd.”
With the recent announcement of a hotel in along Route 291 in Chester, Harrah’s has much to gain with prospect of out-of-town visitors who spend an extend amount of time with the growing number of amusements the city has to offer.
The casino has generated over $60 million in combined wages and benefits for its 1,140 employees, paid $117 million in gaming taxes and raked in more than $306 in net revenues.