Ribbon cut on SugarHouse Casino expansion in Philadelphia

Philadelphia’s only casino has officially opened expanded its gaming halls.  The $164 million project also included adding a parking garage and other amenities.

Wendy Hamilton, general manager of SugarHouse Casino, said she’s happy to put her pink workboots and hard hat into storage now that the facility’s upgrade is complete.

“The SugarHouse expansion, indeed, has been a long time coming,” she said. “But like a fine wine that extra time has served to make the final product even better.”

The facility has added slot machines and table games; it’s also opened a high-end steakhouse as well as a food court featuring Geno’s Steaks and Tacconelli’s pizza.  U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, D-Philadelphia, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday morning.

“It can’t get any better than this,” Brady said. “I don’t know of another corporate sponsor that does as much for the city of Philadelphia.”

Brady is renting the new casino event center to entertain his Washington friends during the Democratic National Convention in July.

About 500 new, full-time jobs have opened up at SugarHouse as a result of the expansion, bringing the current total to approximately 1,700 workers.