Mount Airy to unveil expansion

MOUNT POCONO — Surrounded by the bells, whistles and neon lights of the casino floor, you would never know that, just a few hundred yards away, Mount Airy Casino Resort was undergoing a multifaceted expansion project.

The casino resort is prepping to unveil its new outdoor entertainment pavilion next month, while construction crews on the opposite side of the building work on a 100-room addition.

“We’ve done well every year, but last year was a spectacular year for us in the entire state,” said Vincent Jordan, vice president of marketing and gaming operations. “We’ve been performing really well so we’re excited about that.”

Mount Airy is planning to unveil their 26,000-square-foot entertainment pavilion with a concert on Memorial Day Weekend. The outdoor venue will be covered and, while Jordan said the space will play host to between 12 and 14 concerts per year, concerts would not be the only events held in the space.

According to Jordan, in the past Mount Airy has been contacted to host certain types of events but had not had the facilities to do so.

“We’ve been approached numerous times and we’ll hold events like MMA, boxing events and things of that nature,” Jordan said.

The decision to add an outdoor entertainment area was one that was made after examining the needs and desires of the casino resort’s guests. According to Jordan, most entertainment events sell out and there has always been a push for more outdoor events.

The pavilion will have seating for 2,200 guests and this means larger shows for the casino resort.

“All of our entertainment shows sell out, in fact there are certain acts where we do multiple shows in a single day and they sell out,” Jordan said. “So, it just made natural sense to create one big venue.”

With the addition of the outdoor pavilion, the casino resort expects to see an increase in guests. This becomes an issue because Mount Airy, which currently has 188 rooms, already operates with a 98 percent occupancy rate.

By this time next year, Jordan hopes that will no longer be an issue because they recently began construction on a $40 million, 100-room expansion.

“We’re sold out just about every day, so the demand is definitely there and with the addition of the entertainment venue the rooms become even more important,” Jordan said.

The expansion is expected to be completed by spring 2019 and will also feature a 16,000-square-foot addition to their events center. The new space will be more than 20,000 square feet and be able to accommodate dinners for up to 750 people and 1,200 attendees for other events; the space currently holds groups of up to 200 people.

While Jordan expects the event center to be rented out for occasions such as corporate events and weddings, it will be able to accommodate almost any experience. The additional square footage that is being added will feature raised ceilings and walls acoustically engineered to make it ideal for entertaining.

“We listen to them,” said Jordan, of Mount Airy’s guests. “And I think by listening to the needs of the customer it has allowed us to grow.”