San Diego County’s Sycuan Band of The Kumeyaay Nation last week broke ground on a 6 million expansion of its Sycuan Casino that includes a 300-room 11-story hotel, more gaming room, enough for 500 more slots, and a 12,000-square foot ballroom.
It will also add seven new restaurants, a 1.5-acre garden—all part of an effort to recreate Las Vegas on the Pacific Coast. It will also add a “lazy river” pool component.
Several hundred guests turned out for the groundbreaking, which included traditional Kumeyaay songs. Former San Diego Chargers center Nick Hardwick was MC.
Sycuan General Manager John Dinius told KGTV: “It’s something that has become indicative of casino environments in general; you need to have those non-gaming amenities,” adding “This will redefine the Sycuan Casino experience.”
Tribal Chairman Cody Martinez commented that the expansion was “a new chapter in the rich history of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Indians…We are taking Sycuan to the next level.” He added, “We’re gonna always have bingo, so we’re going to have a lot of those amenities that people have become accustomed to, they’re gonna stay.”
Martinez also said, “The Southern California gaming experience is one that you can stay overnight at a property. You do have food and beverage offerings — it’s not just about gaming, it’s about entertainment, it’s about experience.”
The 33-year old Sycuan Casino, which started as a bingo hall, has been rated as the third largest casino in San Diego County, which has a dozen casinos, with 2,000 slots and 40 gaming tables, but no hotel, although it does own hotels, such as San Diego’s iconic U.S. Grant. This new project will rectify that omission.
Dinius added, “We want to be number one. We are very competitive in this market and our absolute goal is to be the number-one casino in this region. This expansion has nothing to do with anybody else but ourselves and that desire to be number one.”
The project is expected to be completed by 2019.
