Wind Creek schedules service interruptions during transition
Wind Creek Bethlehem may be Pennsylvania’s table games king, but it won’t be Tuesday.
That’s because, beginning at 6 a.m. Tuesday, all table games — with the exception of the site’s electronic table games — will close as the facility changes over to its new Wind Creek table chips, the casino said in an email to patrons Friday. The casino’s table games will reopen that day, around 10 p.m.
“These are exciting times at Wind Creek Bethlehem, as we continue to make improvements to our property that will enhance our guest experience,” the casino said in the email.
The facility has been busy transitioning since Wind Creek Hospitality, an affiliate of Alabama’s Poarch Band of Creek Indians, closed on its $1.3 billion purchase of Sands Bethlehem on May 31. Wind Creek is spending $15 million to rebrand the facility, no place more obvious than the 3,880-square-foot sign currently being installed on the old ore crane. Some on social media have had some fun with the casino, pointing out the order in which the letters are rising.
Earlier this week, Wind Creek spokeswoman Julia Corwin said the letters are going up in an order that “allows the crane basket to orient itself to make all necessary connections.” Installation is expected to be complete next week, she said.
While Wind Creek has been working through the transition, the company had previously announced big plans for its Bethlehem property. For example, Wind Creek has $90 million secured to build a 276-room hotel along with another 42,000 square feet of meeting space near the existing 282-room hotel. Alicia Miller Karner, director of Bethlehem’s Department of Community and Economic Development, said the city has talked to Wind Creek about the hotel expansion, but there is nothing yet formally submitted.
In addition, Wind Creek has a $250 million plan to turn the No. 2 Machine Shop into an adventure and water park, though the company is looking to attract development partners for the project.
More immediately, after Wind Creek Bethlehem completes the table games transition, about 1,200 slot machines will be taken off-line beginning at 6 a.m. Aug. 26. Roughly 2,000 slots will remain available for play through the day, Wind Creek said in the email Friday.
Then, beginning at midnight Aug. 27, Slot Free Play will be unavailable until the casino’s system upgrade is complete. Slot Free Play availability will resume around 2 p.m. that day.
Looking beyond the transition and to Harrisburg, it remains unclear whether Wind Creek will be interested in the state’s next mini-casino auction Sept. 4. Wind Creek officials told the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board earlier this year that they would consider evaluating potential sites if the mini-casino process opened back up.
Also on Friday, the gaming board released gambling revenue figures for July, data that showed Wind Creek Bethlehem is still the state’s top table games casino. Wind Creek had $20.9 million in table games revenue last month, a 1% decline from last year but about $4.5 million ahead of second-place Parx Casino. When including slots revenue, Wind Creek had total gambling revenue last month of $45.3 million, which trailed only Parx.
Morning Call reporter Jon Harris can be reached at 610-820-6779 or at jon.harris@mcall.com.