Hurricane Irma now is history and most south Florida casinos are fully or mostly operational.
The exception is Mardi Gras Casino in Hallandale Beach. Mardi Gras President Dan Adkins said the hurricane struck late Sunday, September 10 and a mini-tornado lifted the roof off the 4-story building. “Then a lot of water came in and worked its way down,” Adkins said. The cleanup crew unplugged most of the slots, located on the first floor, relocated them to one corner and removed the water-soaked carpet. Adkins said the slot floor will be re-carpeted, resealed, repainted and re-drywalled, a process that could take a few months. “It’s a heck of a way to retrofit, but everything will look a lot newer and fresher,” Adkins said.
The poker room’s ceiling will need to be replaced, “and after Hurricane Harvey and now Irma, everybody is ordering those same materials. That’s the holdup, otherwise we could open right now,” Adkins said, noting the poker room could reopen with a week or two. The parimutuel simulcast room on the second floor was not damaged and will open at the same time as the poker room does, he said. The last area to reopen will be the French Quarter restaurant on the third floor.
At Calder Casino in Miami Gardens, Director of Marketing Matt Harper said, “Calder Casino remains temporarily closed as the city of Miami Gardens and our surrounding communities continue to work to clear the roads and repair traffic signals. Thankfully, no team members were injured during the storm, and Calder sustained no major structural damage.”
Sandra Rodriguez, spokeswoman for both the Casino at Dania Beach and Magic City Casino in Miami said, “We were fortunate that we experienced only intermittent power losses and landscaping damage at both facilities.” Both facilities are operating on regular hours and no activities have been affected, she said.
Jen Swope, director of marketing operations at Isle Casino Pompano Park, stated the facility “experienced minimal property damage, including downed trees, damage to external signs and some internal water damage. All things considered, the property withstood the storm miraculously.” She added, “All regularly scheduled activities are operational. We have postponed a gift-giveaway promotion and a poker tournament, however, both of those events will be rescheduled.”
At Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, General Manager and Vice President of Racing P. J. Campo said minimum damage occurred. Racing was canceled ahead of Irma for four days, and more than half the horses stabled there were evacuated 40 miles away to Palm Meadows training center in Boynton Beach or to Florida’s primary breeding area in Ocala. However, Campo said about 300 horses remained safely housed in Gulfstream Park barns.
Campo said Gulfstream Park resumed racing this past weekend after waiting for “outside resources and utilities in the South Florida area like power, gas and cleanup to catch up.” He added it may take several days for all the evacuated horses to return to the track.
On the casino side of Gulfstream, Marketing Manager Corin Angel said, “We had some trees down, fence damage. No serious damage.” She noted the casino, restaurants, stores, entertainment venues and simulcast center reopened Wednesday, September 13.
As Irma approached, the Seminole Tribe closed some of its gaming facilities and limited operations at others. However, the properties experienced only minor damage– including the Tampa facility that was in the direct path of Irma. Seminole Gaming Chief Executive Officer Jim Allen said, “We’re always proud of our staff, and their enthusiastic commitment to the tribe. But certainly this storm was a new challenge. They not only rose to expectations, they exceeded them.”
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa Public Relations Manager Teresa Shum stated, “We are very fortunate not to have sustained any damage from Hurricane Irma. As of right now, the casino floor, Player’s Club and the poker room are open.” Seminole Casino Coconut Creek is also operating 24/7.
In West Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Kennel Club emerged from Irma intact—except for a few knocked-over plants, said Assistant Publicity Director Sarah Mears. “Palm Beach Kennel Club is now open daily for poker at 10 a.m. and simulcast action begins at 11:30 a.m.” Live racing resumed Sunday, September 17 and closing times varied while a curfew was in effect in Palm Beach County.
The Miccosukee Tribe kept its Miccosukee Resort & Gaming open during the storm.
Magic City Casino, Gulfstream Park and Isle Casino all provided their parking lots as staging areas for Florida Power & Light’s emergency crews. Seminole Casino Coconut Creek also offered its garage as a shelter for first responders’ vehicles and other local casinos also pitched in various ways while south Florida continued to recover from Irma.
