A world famous spa and golfing resort in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania may be developing into a mega-sized slots casino if all  pan out as the developers are planning.  Known as "The Grand Lady of the Mountains" to local residents, Pocono Manor is a 257-room inn on the National Registry of Historic Places.  Located on 3,500 acres of sprawling mountain lands, Pocono Manor has two championship golf courses, a deluxe spa and a large offering of outdoor activities.

Now that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will be issuing fourteen slots licenses by the end of 2006, Pocono Manor owner Greg Matzel (as well as Dennis Gomez and Morris Bailey) seeks to be one of the beneficiaries, and to use the opportunity to completely revamp Pocono Manor into a deluxe casino resort with all of the amenities the best Las Vegas Casino Resort would offer.  Minus the five-star magician acts or modern-day Elvis Presley's, the future Pocono Manor Resort and Casino will draw more on recreation and lifestyle activities afforded by the beautiful natural surroundings.

On the drawing board is a $1.5 billion plan to develop a 230 feet tall hotel casino with a deluxe interior restaurant promenade, high-end shops and boutiques, a lakeside grotto with beautiful views, ballroom, conference center/boardroom, and what is measuring out to be the world's largest fireplace (flanking a large lake with spectacular waterfalls).

While everything about the Pocono Resort and Casino is looking great on paper, there are two obvious obstacles standing in Matzel's way at the current time.  One of these obstacles is the competing Mount Airy Lodge, who is ahead of Pocono in the development process.  Their land development plan has already received an approval by the Paradise Township Planning Commission, which Matzel says he is now in the process of acquiring.  Six developers total will be competing for the only two licenses being awarded for standalone casinos outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

The other obstacle facing Matzel is the "No Casino Tobyhanna Township" citizens group that launched a website last month with an anti-casino petition available for visitors to electronically sign.  However, Matzel has responded back with a website of his own that aims to set the record straight about the Pocono Resort and Casino.  According to Metzel, there is a great deal of misunderstanding about his project, (which began at a zoning hearing in late December) that he now hopes will be cleared with a single package outlaying all of the facts regarding the project.  His website, www.poconomanorcasino.com, also has a petition that visitors can sign and mail into the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, who will ultimately make the final decision on who gets the slots casino licenses.