On Friday, former Gov. Ed Rendell, who seven years ago signed the law bringing casinos to Pennsylvania, said: "The gaming board should enact the most significant fines they can under the law for allowing such a situation to occur."
At 2999 Street Rd. in Bensalem, Parx sits in the middle of a highly congested thoroughfare at the heart of a heavily populated community. Observers say it is this proximity to shopping centers, convenience stores, restaurants, and apartments that makes it a prime spot for parental lapses.
A short drive to the Wawa for bread or milk, a quick trip to fill up at one of the many local gas stations, can easily turn into a gambling outing, they say. Parx is literally "on the way," and temptation can become all too irresistible.
"If parents are in the throes of pathological gambling, who knows what the mind-set is?" said Jim Pappas, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling in Pennsylvania. "They become totally neglectful of the circumstances around them. It's like they have tunnel vision."
Other Pennsylvania casinos, by contrast, are more isolated from neighborhood comings and goings. Harrah's in Chester, for example, sits on an industrial strip away from homes and schools and has an indoor parking garage. Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem occupies the former Bethlehem Steel Plant site; I-78 takes customers directly to its enclosed parking garage.
Meadows Racetrack and Casino near Pittsburgh and Hollywood Casino just outside Harrisburg are also in remote locations. Like Parx, both have open surface parking lots, but there have been no arrests of adults who have left children in cars outside.
