SCHENECTADY — Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady officials have announced the $330 million gaming and entertainment facility will open its doors to the public on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. Well in advance of the two-year timeline the state Gaming Commission allowed New York commercial casinos, Rivers Casino will open just over 13 months from the approval of its license.
The casino will open just a year and a few days after the facility’s ceremonial groundbreaking, which was held on Feb. 3. The announcement was made during a Nov. 16 ceremony at the casino, at which Rush Street Gaming representatives were joined by local and state officials to thank construction partners and local trades. Nearly 300,000 hours of labor have been utilized by the building trades to date, according to the casino’s communications firm, with the final number of hours expected to exceed 500,000 when the 165-room hotel is complete.
During the ceremony, Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady General Manager Mary Cheeks threw a switch and lit up the opening date on the casino’s LED sign that will welcome guests to the property. The state-of-the-art LED matrix consumes just 30 percent of the energy most LED bulbs draw and is one of the many sustainability aspects of Rivers Casino & Resort, expected to be LED-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.
“Our construction partners have simply done a remarkable job, and I want to salute every one of the many hundreds of workers who are working hard to make this vision a reality,” said Rush Street Gaming CEO Rush Carlin. “This is Rush Street Gaming’s fourth ground-up casino development, and we look forward to being a great asset to the City and County of Schenectady, the Capital Region and the State of New York.”
Details about the Grand Opening of Rivers Casino & Resort will be released in the coming weeks. The first guests will have a full day of special promotions and events to enjoy, in addition to the excitement of the gaming floor and the property’s restaurants and amenities.
Rivers Casino & Resort’s Rush Rewards Player’s Club is now open for guests to sign up at www.riverscasinoandresort.com/
“Our team can’t wait to show Rivers Casino & Resort to the Capital Region for the first time,” Cheeks said. “Our focus is now on finishing our hiring and training efforts and making sure our team is ready to deliver a superior customer experience when we open our doors in February.”
“We have been witness to a dramatic transformation this year, as Rivers Casino & Resort quickly rose from an under-utilized, industrial brownfield,” said Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy. “The Schenectady waterfront was once the site of great prosperity for the city and the region as the home of the American Locomotive Company; with Rivers preparing to open its doors and put hundreds of people to work, that time has come again.”
Rivers Casino & Resort will employ more than 1,100. The casino will continue to fill positions over the weeks leading up to opening, and all positions are open for applications at www.riverscasinoandresort.com/
Rush Street Gaming, operates three other casinos, all of which were named a 2015 “Best Place to Work” or “Top Workplace.”
The new casino is a $330 million project that will have a 50,000-square-foot gaming floor with 1,142 slot machines, 67 gaming tables and 15 poker tables attached to a 165-room hotel and a 10,000-square-foot banquet facility capable of hosting up to 900 people for conventions and special events, one of the largest spaces in the region. The casino will take full advantage of its riverfront location with outdoor patios and pre-function spaces.
Rivers Casino & Resort will be located adjacent to a new mixed-use Mohawk Harbor development currently under construction by the Galesi Group, which constitutes an additional $150 million investment in the 60-acre riverfront property. The mix of residential, retail and commercial space will include a 124-room Courtyard by Marriott and a 50-slip harbor on the Mohawk River and Erie Canal.
For more information on Rivers Casino & Resort, visit www.riverscasinoandresort.com.
