HARRISBURG — The roar of construction trucks and cranes is expected to return within days to the site of a stalled Pittsburgh casino project after state regulators approved a plan Thursday by new investors to rescue the venture from the brink of bankruptcy.

Chicago real-estate billionaire Neil Bluhm, who is spearheading the new partnership, said approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board means the deal can close and contractors can be paid the more than $50 million they are owed.

"We're getting ready to start wiring money tomorrow, and we should be under construction by Monday," Bluhm told reporters after the gaming board's 7-0 vote. "I think it's a great decision for the city of Pittsburgh and the commonwealth, and this will be a great project."

The gaming board voted after a four-hour meeting that included testimony by Bluhm, contractors and labor union officials who warned rejection would devastate the contractors, put laborers out of work and plunge the venture into years of bankruptcy litigation.

The board's top staff members recommended approval, saying they found the reorganization to be legal and had not been rushed to render judgment. Gov. Ed Rendell, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl also expressed support for the deal.

Bluhm said the new partnership will fulfill a commitment by the original licensee, Detroit businessman Don Barden, to pay $225 million over 30 years to help build a new arena for the Pittsburgh Penguins. On Thursday, Rendell, Onorato, Ravenstahl and Penguins owners celebrated a groundbreaking for the 18,000-seat arena in downtown Pittsburgh.

In comments before they voted, gaming board members rejected arguments made in recent weeks by some state lawmakers who said the casino license should be revoked and made available to a new pool of applicants.

A license revocation would benefit a small group of people while hurting numerous families and businesses, board member Kenneth McCabe said.

Although board member Gary Sojka acknowledged the 2004 law that legalized slot-machine casinos did not provide a clear path on how to handle the proposed rescue, members insisted their decision protected the public interest.

After five years of operation, the city of Pittsburgh will realize $98 million in tax revenue from the casino while the state's tax on revenues will garner $1.1 billion for tax reductions, the equine industry and civic development projects, the new partnership group said.

Bluhm characterized the $780 million casino project as a victim of a worldwide credit crunch and spiraling commodity costs that sent the price tag beyond Barden's means.

Barden, who won a $50 million slot-machine casino license from the gaming board in December 2006, had planned to use borrowed money to finance the entire casino in downtown Pittsburgh's stadium district along the Ohio River.

However, he found himself unable to get enough money from banks and investors badly wounded and wary following huge mortgage-lending losses. As costs spiraled, Barden went into default on a $200 million bridge loan and began searching for investors to take over the project.

Contractors stopped working on July 1 after going months without pay, and lenders began threatening to drag the venture into bankruptcy, according to Bluhm and Barden.

"I was not about to let that happen," Barden told the gaming board Thursday.

In late June, Barden first met with Bluhm at the behest of the prime contractor, Daniel Keating of Philadelphia-based Keating Building Corp. As a result, Bluhm's real-estate investment company, Walton Street Capital, will contribute most of the $205 million in new money, and the partnership will raise another nearly $600 million in loans and credit, officials said.

Bluhm also is involved in the planned SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia that is stalled by opposition from nearby residents, state lawmakers and city officials. He and his family members have a majority stake in SugarHouse.

In the restructured Pittsburgh casino venture, Bluhm and his adult children own about 20 percent, while Walton Street Capital controls a majority stake. Barden will keep 20 percent for himself and several partners.

The new partnership group must pay $2.5 million to transfer the ownership of the license. Officials said they expect to open the as-yet-unnamed casino in August 2009.