They say people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
So much for that theory.
There used to a daily newspaper in the city of Chester. Maybe you’ve heard of it. I know I have. I get reminded of it almost every day when a longtime reader tells me that, “I have been reading your newspaper since it was the Chester Times.”
Yes, that was our predecessor. In the mid-1970s, the name was changed to the Delaware County Daily Times. Eventually we moved out of the city to our current home in the Primos section of Upper Darby.
All of which is something of a prelude to our lead story today.
Harrah’s is doing something they are calling a “rebranding.”
Some people in Chester are calling it something else.
Since they opened their doors amid much hoopla in 2007, the gambling palace has been called Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack.
Not anymore.
Harrah’s is dropping the Chester from its name and replacing it with Philadelphia.
To be honest, I’m not the least bit surprised. Harrah’s is looking to lure gamblers from the entire region and beyond. While using the name Chester certainly endeared them to their home city, it does not have the draw of using Philly in their moniker.
Actually, saying that the casino is even in Chester has always struck me as a bit of a stretch. Sure, technically it is within the city's borders. But you can probably spit from the parking deck into Eddystone next door. The casino complex is about as far east as you can go in the city, squeezed snugly into a tract along Route 291 right next door to the state prison, SCI Chester.
They certainly are not the first entity to undergo such a rebranding or similar name considerations.
One of the other gems of Chester’s riverfront economic renaissance is PPL Park. A Major League Soccer team plays their home games there. Despite my protestations when the team and its home was announced, they do not carry the city’s name in its crest. They are called the Philadelphia Union.
And it’s not just Chester. Penn State Brandywine bruised a few feelings in the county when they kicked Delco to the curb in renaming their Middletown campus Penn State Brandywine.
Harrah’s will continue to be an economic powerhouse for the city of Chester. They annually kick in $10 million to the city, and another $6 million to the county.
Not that any of that is going to soothe the feelings of some Chester residents – and at least one state representative – who feel the city is being slighted.
State Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland, D-159, was an initial opponent of bringing casino gambling to the city. He has since changed his tune. Now he’s irked that Chester is being dumped from the casino name.
“We didn’t fight for funding for Harrah’s to come to Chester for it to be Harrah’s Philadelphia,” Kirkland said. “We’re proud to be Chester and we want them to be proud in Chester.”
New Chester Mayor John Linder said he initially took the move as something of “a slap in the face.”
But he’s getting used to it and understands why the casino is changing its name.
If the casino were pulling up stakes and leaving the city altogether, I could see their point.
All they are doing is changing their name.
They aren’t the first; they won’t be the last.
I should know. I’m the editor of a newspaper that was once called the Chester Times.
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