The casino city of Cripple Creek, Colorado has a much different vibe than the other casino towns in the state, Central City and Black Hawk. Teller County commissioners alluded to that difference earlier this month when they asked the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to let their dozen casinos reopen after a 93-day shutdown.
“The casino protocols and safety guidelines prepared by local industry experts are effective safety measures for our small, low-key casinos,” the request stated. “Additionally, our local Covid-19 case count still holds, and our suppressive efforts remain effective.”
The casinos reopened Monday, June 15. Gaming halls in Central City and Black Hawk opened days later.
Because of that head start, Cripple Creek “actually saw quite a bit of business from the Denver market since we opened first,” Wildwood Casino Director of Marketing Andy Jones told GGB News.
“We have quite a few things above the state requirements, including requiring a mask to enter and while walking, but free to remove at the machine,” he explained. Everyone must be temperature-screened, he said. “Above 100.4 degrees, they’re eligible for a secondary screening.”
Patrons who still register a high temperature are asked to leave. “We also ask questions about symptoms, such as coughing and shortness of breath,” said Jones. “Those are minimum.”
Wildwood is going above and beyond the state requirements to keep customers and employees safe, he said. “We have Plexiglas dividers on wheels, so players can move them. We removed seats from every other machine, although all the machines are on. As long as no one is seated to the side of you, you’re free to move the chair to that machine.”
Teller County is not allowing any table games including craps, roulette, poker and blackjack, at least for the moment.
Wildwood “invested heavily” in ultraviolet (UV) cleaning technology, such as UV wands and even a UV broom, Jones added.
“In the next few days, we’ll install UV elevator cleaners. Each time the elevator is empty, it will be cleaned. We did a survey of 1,500 guests six weeks ago, and found that things that were normally important—such as promotions and free play—were secondary to feeling safe. We allocated a lot of the money we were using toward promotions back to health and safety.”
Reopening involved some challenges, one of them created by discrepancies between what’s required by Teller County health officials and the state’s gaming department. “The county said the casinos could operate at 50 percent capacity, and the state said each casino could only have 175 people in the gaming area—including employees.” He added, “We’re erring on the side of the lower number, but hope the regulatory agencies will reconcile.”
On the day the casino opened, “Within half an hour, we had reached our maximum capacity,” said Jones. “That will likely change a little; we won’t get expect to reach capacity except on Fridays and Saturdays. We think it was very successful.”
Sports betting became legal in Colorado on May 1. Wildwood doesn’t offer it yet, “but we’re ready to go,” said Jones. “We have all our approvals for both retail and online sportsbooks. We’re doing some remodeling to our sports betting lounge because of social distancing.”
With few U.S. sports to bet on now, he said, the casino took the time to repurpose an existing restaurant that already had a sports theme. “We ripped out the cabinetry and made a TV wall. We’ll have the largest sports betting area in the market by far. We want to be out in front of the launch of sports, but not so far as to lose the interest of our customers. With Major League Baseball not sure they’ll even have a season, things get more complicated.”
The Wildwood is more than halfway through building the first casino hotel to open in the market in 10 years, with 104 rooms including 10 high-roller suites, a rooftop meeting space that can accommodate up to 100 people and a multi-use lobby with a double-sided fireplace. Jones said the addition should expand the market, and give first-time visitors from Denver a reason to return.
The city of Cripple Creek is doing everything that it can to help businesses bounce back after the lockdown. City council recently adopted a program called “Streateries at the Creek” whereby restaurant, bars and retail stores can operate in outdoor settings. It will create a whole new street scene for a few months until it expires in mid-October.
According to the city, “The intent of the program is to allow for greater physical spacing and safety for patrons in accordance with the state’s public health orders,” which allow restaurants and bars to resume sit-down service and retail stores to open for shoppers.
Jeff Mosher, the city’s marketing and events director, was heavily involved in the Streateries concept. He told GGB News the reopening went well. “For the most part, it’s been really good. We’ve been fielding questions for the past two months from all over the central part of the U.S. from people eager to get back to Cripple Creek.”
He noted how much extra activity the city experienced because it opened two days earlier than Black Hawk. “We did see an awful big number of Denver patrons who might have normally gone to other places,” he said. “It gave us an opportunity to showcase our community, so that metro Denver might experience Cripple Creek for the first time. … It’s a different atmosphere.”
Cripple Creek is still a mining town, with one of the biggest active gold mines in the world, the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine. In keeping with its history, its casinos have colorful names like the Gold Rush, the Midnight Rose, Bronco Billy’s, Big Jim’s and the Brass Ass.
“We have the gold mining fields and our historical district is still alive and well and the casinos play into that with the facades on their buildings,” Mosher said. “It’s not just gaming, but a lot of history. We still have gold coming out of the ground like crazy. We have a wild herd of donkeys who wander through the town, who are descended from the mining donkeys.”
Although gaming activities can’t take place in the streets, for the duration of the Streateries promotion, their restaurants and bars can, said Mosher. “We wouldn’t allow food trucks to come in from out of the area. We wanted to benefit local businesses and to allow them to expand their footprint.”
Cripple Creek is actively inviting tourists to come and take advantage of its cooler weather, thanks to its altitude. “We’re usually a good 14 degrees cooler. It’s challenging with the oxygen but it’s beautiful fresh air and we do have the world’s highest casino,” some 9,500 feet above sea level, said Mosher.
That designation is no brag, just fact, and confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records. “It’s a neat town where you can walk the entire town, or take one of our shuttles for free or for just a dollar,” said Mosher. “We’re lucky our governor was open to Streateries. We’re having a blast.”
Or, as Wildwood’s Andy Jones put it, “Our city is alive again.”
