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Coordinates: 40°36′53″N75°21′33″W / 40.6148°N 75.3591°W

Wind Creek Bethlehem
Former logo on the old ore crane of Bethlehem Steel
Address	77 Wind Creek Blvd Bethlehem, PA 18015-7705
Opening date	May 22, 2009; 10 years ago
Theme	Industrial
No. of rooms	302
Total gaming space	139,000 sq ft (12,900 m²)
Signature attractions	Wind Creek Event Center
Notable restaurants	Emeril's Chop House St. James Gate Irish Pub and Carvery
Casino type	Land-based
Owner	Poarch Band of Creek Indians
Architect	RTKL Associates
Previous names	Sands BethWorks (planning/construction) Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem (2009–19)
Renovated in	Casino floor expansion (late 2009-2010), Hotel (early 2011), Shopping mall (late 2011-2012)
Website	Casino Website

The Wind Creek Bethlehem (formerly Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem) is a casino hotel located in the Bethlehem Works development site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is owned and operated by Wind Creek Hospitality, an entity of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

Sands Bethlehem was always out of character with the rest of the Sands portfolio. In fact, it was the only regional casino in the company. The Sands model is to build opulent casino resorts in destination towns. While Sands Bethlehem certainly benefitted from a proximity to New York City, it was never more than a regional property. Casino Overview. At nearly the size of 3 football fields, Sands Bethlehem casino measures up at over 150,000 square feet and is home to more than 3,000 slot machines, 180 live table games and 36 live poker tables in the Sands Poker Room.

3Facilities
4Events

History[edit]

Construction of the casino at the defunct Bethlehem Steel site, with an original ore crane pictured

The property is one of five stand-alone casinos that was awarded a slots license by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on December 20, 2006.^[1] It was developed by the Las Vegas Sands corporation. The casino was slated to open in July 2008, but demolition took longer than expected due to the heavy concrete foundations of the old steel building. Its opening was delayed until the second quarter of 2009. The first concrete for the complex, which is located on the former Bethlehem Steel land on the south side of the city, was poured on November 15, 2007.

It opened on May 22, 2009. While the Las Vegas Sands owned several properties, this was the only casino in the United States to carry the Sands brand in its name, since the original Sands Hotel in Las Vegas was demolished and replaced with The Venetian, and the Sands Atlantic City was closed and demolished.

In the winter of 2009–2010, the casino was granted a license for table games which allowed the casino to expand to include 180 table games, including poker, blackjack and craps.^[2] Table games began operation on July 18, 2010. The Sands Hotel opened on May 27, 2011.

It was the only property in the company to end 2014 with a profit, doing better than Sands' Vegas and Asia properties.

In November 2016, a planned expansion of the gaming floor, along with, two additional restaurants was announced.

In March 2018, it was announced that the property would be sold to Wind Creek Hospitality for $1.3 billion.^[3]^[4] Wind Creek Hospitality had plans for a $190-million expansion to the property that would add a 300-room hotel and possibly an indoor water park.^[5] The sale was completed in May 2019,^[6] and the property was renamed as Wind Creek Bethlehem in July 2019.^[7]

Wind Creek Event Center[edit]

The Wind Creek Event Center was designed by Howard Kulp Architects of Salisbury Township. The event center features 14,000 sq ft (1,300 m²) of flexible multipurpose space, which accommodates meetings, conventions, and a variety of entertainment events.^[8]^[9] The venue can house 3,800 in a general admission setting and 2,500 in a reserved seating setting.^[10] Operated by Live Nation Mid-Atlantic, it was opened on May 16, 2012 as the Sands Bethlehem Event Center, with a concert by Incubus.^[11]Janet Jackson performed to a sold-out crowd at the venue in November 2017 for her State of the World Tour.^[12]Britney Spears performed at the venue in July 2018 on her Piece of Me tour.^[13]

Facilities[edit]

Sands Casino Resort

Gaming[edit]

The casino features over 3,000 slot machines, 200 table games, and several electronic table games. Sands spent $26 million in 2009 to add 119 table games: 41 blackjack tables, four craps, four roulette, four three-card poker, fourteen mini-baccarat, four midi-baccarat, three pai gow poker, two pai gow tiles, one Big Six, two Let It Ride, two Caribbean stud, four Texas Hold'em Bonus, one Casino War, one sic bo and 12 poker tables. Later a 30-table poker room was built off of the main floor. Table games began operation on July 18, 2010.^{[citation needed]}

Dining[edit]

Buddy V's
Burgers and More by Emeril (BAM)
Carlo's Bake Shop(also known as Carlo's Bakery)
Chopstick
Croissanterie
Emeril's Fish House
Steelworks Buffet & Grill
The Market Gourmet Express Food Court, currently including:
- Bananas
- Casa Java
- Far East
- GreenLeafs
- Mo Burger
- South Philly Steaks & Fries
- Villa Italian Kitchen

Nightlife[edit]

Molten
Coil Lounge
Vision Bar

Shopping[edit]

The Outlets at Wind Creek Bethlehem

The Outlets at Wind Creek Bethlehem is an indoor shopping mall that connects the casino and the hotel.^[14] The outlet center, which opened on November 1, 2011 and is located under the Minsi Trail Bridge, comprises 133,000 sq ft (12,400 m²) of retail space and includes a food court, near the casino entrance.

Events[edit]

Lehigh Valley Food & Wine Festival[edit]

The hotel hosts the yearly Lehigh Valley Food & Wine Festival, held at the end of May/early June to benefit the culinary and hospitality program at Northampton Community College.^[15]

References[edit]

^'PA Gaming Control Board Approval'(PDF). PA Gaming Control Board. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
^'PA Gaming Control Board Renews Slots License For Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem - Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board'. gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
^Radzievich, Jon Harris, Nicole. 'Sands Bethlehem casino to be sold to Alabama Indian tribe for $1.3 billion'. Lehigh Valley Business Cycle. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
^'Las Vegas Sands selling Bethlehem casino for $1.3 billion'. lehighvalleylive.com. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
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