The public will have the opportunity to get a “first look” inside the Happy Valley Casino prior to its official opening.
The casino at the Nittany Mall in College Township will host public Test Days benefiting two local charities from 2 to 10 p.m. on April 24 and 25, coinciding with Penn State’s busy Blue-White Weekend, according to a news release on Friday
Test Days are required by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to ensure operations and procedures meet regulations.
Visitors will get a “full preview” of everything including table games, slot machines and dining options, according to casino officials. A post on the Happy Valley Casino Facebook page notes that while the casino will be fully functioning during the pre-opening event, “we will still be training our team during these nights.”
All proceeds from the two-day event will benefit the State College Food Bank and the YMCA of Centre County.
“The Test Days are an exciting milestone for our team,” Eric Pearson, general manager of Happy Valley Casino, said in a statement. “We’re proud to welcome the community inside for the first time, not only to showcase what we’ve built, but also to give back to two incredible local organizations that make a meaningful impact every day.”
An official opening date will be announced shortly after the completion of the Test Days. Casino representatives have previously said they anticipated the venue to open this month.
In late, March the casino graduated 90 people from its Dealer School designed to train employees for the gaming industry.
The pending opening will mark the end of a winding, years-long process to develop a category 4 casino in the 94,000-square-foot former Macy’s anchor space at the mall.
Completion of the ownership change is the latest step in a long road for the casino that began in 2020 when investor and Penn State alumnus Ira Lubert, the owner of SC Gaming, won an auction for what is, for now, Pennsylvania’s final category 4, or mini-casino, license with a bid of $10,000,101.
The licensing process began in 2021 and that same year SC Gaming entered a framework agreement with Bally’s to jointly develop and manage the casino. Bally’s, however, withdrew from the partnership in September 2024, and about six months later a new agreement with New York-based Saratoga Casino Holdings was announced.
Saratoga subsequently became majority owner of the casino in January.
The project was delayed for years after competitor Stadium Casino challenged the license, arguing that Lubert — who was eligible to bid because of his ownership interest in other casino properties — acted as a “Trojan horse” for other parties, including Bally’s, who would not have been eligible and that he should not have been able to bid.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved the license in January 2023 and the state Supreme Court dismissed the legal challenge in 2024.
Construction began in 2025 on the estimated $127 million casino, which will have 600 slot machines and 30 table games. The smoke-free facility is expected to have initial hours of 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., though it has previously been discussed as a 24/7 operation.
Happy Valley Casino also will have two eateries along with a centralized bar servicing the sit-down restaurant and the gaming floor.
Aces Social will be the sports-themed sit-down restaurant with large-screen televisions and what Pearson previously described as “a pretty broad menu.” Lucky Break Cafe, meanwhile, will be a quick-serve outlet akin to a consolidated food court, offering selections such as pizza, burgers, sandwiches, ice cream and coffee.
Happy Valley Casino has had its detractors, who have maintained their long-running opposition to the project based on worries about gambling addiction, especially among students at nearby Penn State, an influx of crime and skepticism that the casino would be an economic boon. Pearson met with residents in the fall of 2024 to discuss their concerns.
Supporters have said that legal online options already make gambling widely available in Pennsylvania and that the region would experience an economic boost from a new entertainment venue, citing projected tax revenue for the township and county and new jobs.
College Township commissioned a third-party local impact study to evaluate the potential social and public safety effects, which the report projected to be minimal, and anticipated economic benefits, with the township expected to receive $1.4 to $1.6 million in new tax revenue annually.
Township council members said after receiving an overview of the report in September that it marked a starting point for monitoring and addressing any issues that may come with the new venue.
