Southern California’s Sycuan Casino last week held a topping off ceremony to celebrate the lowering of the final beam on the 12-story, 300 room hotel and resort that will open in less than a year—and will allow it to become a true resort.
Sycuan Tribal Chairman Cody Martinez told the celebrants, including tribal members, the casino executive team, representatives of Swinerton builders, and new official spokesman former NBA Superstar Bill Walton, “It really is a collaboration.”
The expansion has gone smoothly since the March 2017 groundbreaking. A topping off ceremony generally marks the halfway point in a multi-story project.
The ceremony began with a blessing in Kumeyaay by tribal elder George Prieto, 87. Tribal bird singers performed and the chairman added. “When we sing these songs it’s usually the beginning of a journey.” Those in attendance signed the final beam before it was hoisted into place.
The event included a catered lunch for the 400 construction workers.
The new hotel and resort will create an estimated 700 extra jobs, according to the chairman.
The completed $226 million project, 500,000 square feet total, will include an 8 acre adult pool and garden complex, more dining, increased gaming space, a ballroom with 11,401 square feet that can be converted into a concert hall.
Sycuan Casino first opened in 1983 as a bingo hall.
General Manager John Dinius spoke a little about the casino’s history, and the fact that it has been mainly a gambling hall. “With this expansion, it allows us to bring in amenities that are really going to fully complement the overall resort experience. We feel like we’ve maximized everything we can do within the current facility, so to be able to double it in space and size is just a dream come true.”
Completion date for the resort has been set for March 2019. Sycuan’s expansion is part of a regional Indian casino expansion of an estimated $1 billion being spent on new hotels, spas, more gaming space and especially pool complexes.
Dinius added, “There’s a lot of things that this development does for the tribe that reinforces that commitment to the community, and it provides them more resources that allows them to give more to other folks. It’s just a very good time in our history and a very exciting time that they very much deserve.”
