Super Fast

When the Fast Track Isn't Fast Enough

By Natalie Keith

With any construction project, time is money. With a casino construction project, time is BIG money.

Casinos operate 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, so for each day a casino isn't open, owners can lose thousands, if not millions, in revenue. This was a major consideration in designing the $150 million expansion of the Turning Stone Casino Resort in Verona, N.Y.

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"You have to design the buildings so that they can be built quickly," said partner-in-charge Mario LaGuardia of Brennan Beer Gorman/Architects of New York, N.Y..

The casino, owned by the Oneida Indian Nation, opened 10 years ago, but the tribe wanted to expand. BBG began working on the expansion master plan - which encompasses 400 acres and 8 million sq. ft. - in February 2002.

A variety of infrastructure and planning issues are addressed in the master plan, including reconfiguring the entry sequence, road widths, traffic flow and relocated employee parking. Construction on the first phase of the project began in September 2002 with an aggressive, one-year time frame for completion.

The first phase includes a new four-story, 100-key suite hotel and a six-level, 2,400-space parking garage. It will open this year.

Although the casino remains open during construction, the sooner the hotel is in operation, the quicker people can visit the casino - and stay. "It's important to get hotels up quickly so that people want to come to the casino," LaGuardia added. "They are making this a destination resort."

Construction began over the summer on the second phase of the project, including a 300-key casino hotel that will feature a 44,000-sq.-ft. event center with a seating capacity of 5,000. The casino hotel and event center are expected to open in summer 2005.

James Bonanno, senior associate with DeSimone Consulting Engineers of New York, N.Y., said a second shift was recently added to the casino hotel project to speed up the job. "We're up to the third or fourth floor on the project," he said in September. "That's moving along."

The casino hotel is a 20-story, single-loaded tower with steel construction. It is situated less than a half mi. from the New York State Thruway and was designed so motorists will be able to see the tower from the highway. Developers expect to have the tower enclosed by a curtain wall by November so workers can be shielded from the winter weather, LaGuardia said.

"The tower will be a big sign that something is happening on the site," he added.

A 20,000-sq.-ft. luxury spa - another part of the planned expansion - is still being designed. It will have a steel frame with concrete with a big majestic alleyway, Bonanno said.

Hunt Construction Group of Princeton, N.J. and Pike Co. of Rochester, N.Y. are the general contractors on different aspects of the job.

Bertino & Associates, which is based in Haddon Heights, N.J., is overseeing all components of the project. Working on the job with structural engineers DeSimone Consulting Engineers are site planning & landscape architects Edward D. Stone Jr. Associates of Santa Monica, Calif. and mechanical/electrical/plumbing engineers Steven Feller, PE Inc. of New York, N.Y.

Because the casino never closes, the project team first had to install a co-generation system that would meet electricity needs of the site.

When it's completed in November, the suite hotel will be a five-star retreat for the resort's golfers, casino and spa guests. Architects describe it as a "modern expression in glass balanced by natural elements of stone and wood." The balconies will overlook golf courses and a manmade lake.

Because of the time pressures associated with the project - and the harsh winter weather conditions found in upstate New York - developers chose to use steel with prefabricated concrete planks for the suite hotel.

"We went to a plank system to speed up the job," Bonanno said.

Developers also ordered the steel four months before the general contractor was assigned to the project. Developers reasoned that any extra cost associated with ordering materials ahead of time would be offset by lost casino revenue that could have been associated with project delays, LaGuardia said.

Pike project director Mark Bollin and project manager Mike Streeter have been overseeing work on the suite hotel project. Phil Foltman of Pike is the project manager on the garage project.

Bollin said the many intricate details of the suite hotel project made the job a challenge. Stone tile is being shipped from Italy and cherry paneling can be found throughout the project.

"Tying together all the intricate details of the project to meet a very tight time schedule was difficult," Bollin added. "It would have been nice to have 16 to 18 months for a job like this."