Delaware Park marks completion of renovation project
Delaware Park held a ceremony today to mark the completion of year-long renovation project. 1/25/24
Delaware Park Casino is expanding again this year, adding round the clock table games and something brand new to the site: outdoor slots.
Fresh off a massive $10 million update and renovation that turned the famously dark casino into a hall of Vegas-style glitz, New Castle County’s only casino and racetrack has broken ground on a 10,000-square-foot patio that casino management believes will make it the largest outdoor gaming space in Delaware.
That’ll mean 250 slots and plenty of the “elbow room” and “fresh air” that customers want coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Terry Glebocki, Delaware Park Casino’s president.
“Post-COVID, one of the things we’ve learned is that people like being outdoors, they like having their space, they like fresh air, and a lot of people are wearing masks,” Glebocki said. “This gives an option to people looking for that fresh air experience. Because this patio has so much open air, it’s considered an outdoor space.”
The new patio is part of a storm of activity and updates since last year at the fabled old Stanton casino, once considered a time capsule of days gone by. The Rickman family, which had controlled the racetrack and casino for almost four decades – and maintained its classic dim decor – sold Delaware Park a few years ago to a joint venture between Rubico Gaming and a private equity firm called Clairvest Group.
This year’s renovation included bright lights, baccarat, brisket, more than a thousand new slot machines and new options on Asian-inflected food.
But when Glebocki arrived last year, she said, one of the first opportunities she mentioned to the casino’s owners was the chance to build a large patio space.
Now this, too, will come to pass. Located adjacent to the casino’s racetrack, the patio will be constructed by DiSabatino Construction.
The Delaware Park patio will be open by spring of 2025, about the time people start thinking about hanging out on patios for protracted periods. The space will also be heated during the winter.
Somewhat less prominently featured in marketing materials, the new patio will also mean that patrons can again drink, smoke and play slots at the same time. Bally’s in Dover also boasts outdoor protected smoking areas with slot machines.
Though the Dalaware Park patio is enclosed by walls and thus protected from wind and direct elements, there’s a six foot gap between the roof and any enclosures, Glebocki said – meaning the area is both covered and also open air, Glebocki said. Fans will cool the area in the summer, and outdoor heaters will keep it warm in the winter.
This neither-inside nor-entirely-outside arrangement has drawn some criticism from groups like Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, which works to protect workers in particular from secondhand smoke exposure.
“Delaware Park is making a mockery of state law that is intended to protect all workers and guests from dangerous secondhand smoke,” wrote the group’s president, Cynthia Hallett, in a statement. “While there are many examples of acceptable outdoor smoking areas, this ain’t it.”
Glebocki said the structure comports with the definitions of outdoor space in Delaware law – and that patrons will have plenty of space and dividers between machines.
“There will be a ton of airflow out there, Glebocki said. “And in the summers we increase that airflow (with fans).”
In the meantime, hot on the heels of Bally’s in July, Delaware Park Casino will return to 24/7 table games on November 8, for the first time since the pandemic.
First-floor slot machines had already returned to 24/7 operation in January, months ahead of Bally’s – marking a game of leapfrog between Delaware’s two biggest casino and racetrack properties.
“The demand is there,” Glebocki said. And if there’s demand, the casino plans to fill it.
Other events planned for the holiday season at the casino include a family-friendly light show out at the horse paddocks with a holiday craft fair every Friday and Saturday night from black Friday until Christmas. The area is about the size of a football field, Glebocki said, and they plan to fill it with vendors, food, beverages, Christmas music and pictures with Santa.
“With the addition of 24/7 table games, we hope to see many more players join us for what promises to be an exciting holiday season,” Glebocki said.
Delaware Park Casino is open all hours at 777 Delaware Park Blvd, Stanton, 302-994-2521, delawarepark.com.
Contact reporter Matthew Korfhage at mkorfhage@delawareonline.com
