Application Filed for Mountain Resort

Moving forward with plans to revitalize the Pocono Mountain resort area, local businessman Louis DeNaples today formally filed an application for a gaming license that would be the linchpin of a spectacular new 890-acre, $360 million redevelopment of the former Mt. Airy Lodge ski resort in Paradise Township, Pennsylvania.

The application, filed a week ahead of the state-imposed deadline of December 28th, was delivered to the Harrisburg offices of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The Scranton-based company formed by DeNaples is part of an All-Pennsylvania team that seeks a gaming license as a key to building a dramatic new resort and casino on the site of the former Mt. Airy Lodge, once renowned throughout the nation as "the host with the most in the Poconos." The Lodge closed in 1999 and has been vacant since 2001. If approved, the first phase of the new Mount Airy Resort & Casino would open its doors in May 2007.

In filing the application for a Category 2 (non-racetrack) gaming license, together with the posting of a $50 million letter of credit as required under state law, DeNaples said that he is fully prepared to cooperate with Gaming Board investigators who will scrutinize the details of his holdings and his 45-year business career, which has made the Dunmore, Pa. native one of the most successful business executives in the nation.

"We believe that the proposed Mount Airy Resort & Casino will revitalize the entire Pocono Mountain region, and we have put together an all- Pennsylvania team of experts to develop a resort and casino complex that will be second to none in Pennsylvania," DeNaples said. "It will be built and operated by Pennsylvanians, for Pennsylvania. This is a chance to create a tremendous amount of new momentum for this area, while also creating more than 300 new construction jobs, 650 new permanent jobs, and countless new opportunities for businesses in the region to benefit from the activity that the Mount Airy Resort & Casino will generate.

"I am very excited about this plan, and I absolutely expect that the Gaming Board will conduct a comprehensive investigation, as it will for every applicant, to determine our fitness to be awarded a license to operate a gaming facility on the site," DeNaples said. "I will cooperate fully with this effort, because I want there to be no doubt that this enterprise will operate according to the very highest standards in the gaming industry."

The planned Mount Airy Resort & Casino is well ahead of its competitors in seeking a gaming license for the region, having already worked with local officials to secure the necessary zoning and utility approvals for a Mount Airy Master Site Plan. That plan includes the 200-acre gaming and resort complex at the core of an 890-acre proposal that incorporates nearly 500 acres of dedicated greenspace as well as the prospect of additional residential development in the future. Demolition of the old buildings on the site has been completed, and construction of infrastructure improvements and other site preparation work already has begun - all in the effort to return the "top of the Poconos" facility to its former glory as the premier destination resort in Pennsylvania.

Plans call for Phase I construction of a 200-room luxury resort hotel, a gaming and entertainment complex that would house 3,000 slot machines, four restaurants, two live entertainment lounges, an 18-hole championship golf course, an indoor pool, spa, retail shops, and a covered parking facility. Phase I construction is estimated at $300 million, which would be followed in Phase II with an expanded casino to accommodate a total of 5,000 slot machines, an additional 200 luxury hotel rooms, and additional conference, entertainment and parking facilities.

The new Mount Airy Resort & Casino would generate 300 new construction jobs in addition to the 650 permanent new full-time jobs. An economic impact analysis submitted with the application projects operating revenues of $215.9 million in Year One, rising to more than $427 million in revenues by Year Five. The analysis also concludes that the facility will generate more than $69 million in "indirect" economic benefits for the region in Year One - chiefly through related business activities and the purchase of necessary supplies and materials from local vendors. That figure would rise to $161.5 million in Year Five.

The groundwork for the new facility is the product of more than four years' work by the DeNaples group, preceding even his purchase of the site in December 2004. In the last year, Paradise Township and Monroe County officials, recognizing that gaming was on the horizon, also began developing a coherent vision for the redevelopment of the area. Together, this effort involved working with local elected officials, community leaders and Township residents to ensure that the Mount Airy Resort & Casino Master Site Plan was completed with the full support of local citizens.

Indeed, in published reports last week, Township zoning officials praised the DeNaples group as being "way ahead of everybody" in working to ensure that local ordinances were in place so that redevelopment of the site could proceed as rapidly and as smoothly as possible.

Having seized the momentum in the effort to position gaming as a key component in the drive to revitalize the Poconos as a top-flight destination area, DeNaples is poised to return the site to its former glory.

"For years, Mt. Airy Lodge was the pride of the Pocono region, and it was known throughout the Commonwealth and across the nation as a premier resort facility," DeNaples said. "Our goal is to restore that status, by building and operating a Mount Airy Resort & Casino that will make all of Pennsylvania proud."