Photo post: The Sands Casino Resort

For a few different reasons in the past week, I've had occasion to visit the Sands Casino Resort, which is not as exciting as it might sound since it's approximately a fifteen-minute drive from where I live.  This place used to be known as Bethlehem Steel, which was a steel manufacturing giant for over a century.  If you've seen the second Transformers movie, then you've actually seen part of it - they used the old steelworks in the opening parts of the movie.

A few years ago, they opened a casino in one of the old buildings, with plans for expansion into a full-fledged resort. They've been moving right along with that, and there's now a shopping center (the interior looks vaguely like the King of Prussia Mall) and a television studio (our local PBS station moved in there) and a hotel.  So my camera and I have been paying a few visits, along with my husband and friends, and I thought that I would share some pictures with you today.

They call this section the SteelStacks, and it might not be easy to see why, but every night the "stacks" of the old steel mill are lit up in different colored lights.  The SteelStacks is where the TV studio is, right next to the ArtsQuest building.  ArtsQuest is a local organization that is, funnily enough, dedicated to the arts.

The Stacks from the opposite end, by daylight.

From my understanding, this is the building that's going to be converted into apartment residences.  I think that's kind of cool - people are going to be able to say they live inside the old Bethlehem Steel.  And hey, if you work there (this situation is creating lots of jobs), you can walk to work!

 

I don't know what the plans are for this building.  I just found it somehow aesthetically pleasing.

This is a shout-out to all my peeps.  

No, seriously, if you're familiar with Peeps, they're a local product.  And the new shopping area inside the Sands includes a Peeps-themed store.

 Yup.