Las Vegas’ casinos may be closed for business but work on most of the city’s largest construction projects continues, including the $2 billion Allegiant Stadium, the expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Strip’s $4.3 billion Resorts World Las Vegas and Downtown’s Circa gaming resort.
The 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium, future home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, is expected to be completed in time for a concert by country music superstar Garth Brooks on August 22.
The Raiders are slated to begin their season there in September.
The stadium is being partly financed with $750 million generated from an increase in the Las Vegas hotel room tax, which means that even with the city’s casinos closed for at least 30 days, there is plenty of money in reserve to complete the facility.
Construction is also moving forward on the 1.4 million-square-foot convention center expansion on a site along the northern end of the Strip.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spokeswoman Lori Nelson-Kraft told CDC Gaming Reports that funding for the project is in hand.
“The LVCVA raised $900 million through the bond markets and has also made transfers from our general fund amounting to more than the remaining $80 million necessary to complete the project.”
The expansion is expected to be completed by the end of the year, in time for the January 2021 Consumer Electronics Show, one of Las Vegas’ largest conventions.
The 700-room Circa, which is expected to open in December, also has construction workers on site, said a spokeswoman for developer Derek Stevens.
The 3,500-room Resorts World, under development at the north end of the Strip by Malaysia-based resort conglomerate Genting, is expected to open next July.
The property’s president, Scott Sibella, said he is working with lead contractor, W.A. Richardson Builders, “to ensure appropriate measures, including social distancing and good hygiene practices, are being taken to protect the health and safety of our workers while they remain on site.”
He said employees who work in closer quarters, such as the administrative offices, and who can perform their jobs remotely, are required to work from home.
“This is a constantly evolving situation and we will continue to evaluate and take direction from local, state and federal health authorities to determine appropriate next steps,” he said.
At the Allegiant site, Tommy White, secretary-treasurer of Laborers Local 872, said, “We are very proactive about what’s going on with the virus. We supply hand sanitizer. We’re also allowing our sites to split the shifts to where one whole shift comes off the job site before the other shift comes on.”
Likewise, at the convention center, Nelson-Kraft said the LVCVA is working with the contractor to ensure proper social distancing and other health and safety measures are in effect during the remaining construction.
