Phila. Park Ready to Bet on Slots

BENSALEM, Pa. - December 18, 2006 (WPVI) -- Philadelphia Park officially opens its doors to slot gamblers on Tuesday.

Only the gamblers with special invitations to the open house were getting into the new casino on Monday for a test run of the slot machines.

For the time being, the casino is in the existing racetrack building, but investors plan to spend a half-billion dollars turning the 430 acre site into a full service resort with a golf course and hotel.

For the park's neighbors like Our Lady of Fatima Church and School, there are many concerns. Father John Myers says there is already spillover from the racetrack crowd. Many are concerned that the casino will bring a lot of negatives.

On the positive side, the public safety director is getting more than a dozen new cops to keep a handle on traffic and vice.

Bensalem residents also expect the casino to generate tax breaks, hundreds of new jobs, and more than 100-million dollars in state money to redesign roads as the area prepares for 7,000 new gamblers a day.

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