Pittsburgh casino goes live in November
A new Pittsburgh casino has announced its grand opening date.
Pittsburgh Business Journal reports that Live! Casino Pittsburgh will open on November 24, pending approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
Prior to the opening, the casino will host a few private charity events on November 14 and 15 to benefit the Westmoreland County Food Bank.
There is also a planned ribbon cutting ceremony on November 17.
“We’re going ‘Live!’ to the generation public on November 24,” general manager Sean Sullivan said.
“Live! Is the latest world-class venue to be opened by the Cordish Companies. It’s going to up the ante on entertainment for everyone in the Greater Pittsburgh region.”
Opening amid the coronavirus pandemic, the operator has developed a comprehensive plan on mask requirements, temperature checks, social distancing, and repeated cleaning of high-traffic areas, poker machines and table games.
Signs will be up throughout the facility to make sure patrons are aware of the requirements.
“Our priority is to provide a safe environment for our team members and guests,” Mr Sullivan said.
“We’ve gone through extraordinary measures to meet and exceed the state’s COVID-19 guidelines to ensure all of our guests have fun and feel safe.”
Virgin’s Vegas hotel set to open in January
A former Hard Rock casino resort in Las Vegas that has been renovated into a Virgin Hotel is set to reopen early next year.
Casino.org reported in September that the owners and developers behind the resort-wide renovation of the off-Strip property originally hoped to open the new building this year, but they cited the coronavirus pandemic as the reason for the opening delay.
Richard Bosworth, who acquired the resort in March 2018 along with flamboyant Virgin Group billionaire Richard Branson and real estate investment firm Juniper Capital Partners, said cancellations of conventions and ongoing coronavirus confirms warranted “a little more time” before cutting the red ribbon.
“If we’re watching our competitors and other members of the hospitality community, it’s that we learn from their safety practices and how they address the safety of their guests and we’re going to use those best practices,” Mr Bosworth said.
He and his partners purchased the resort for $500 million and are spending another $200 million to transform it into the Virgin Hotels brand.
Visitor traffic to southern Nevada remains light and with no conventions, casino resorts have slashed their room rates and have been criticised by some for an increase in recent violence on and around the Las Vegas Strip.
The cancellation of the Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas’ largest annual convention, was a devastating blow to Virgin Las Vegas.
Mr Bosworth revealed the exhibition had been Hard Rock’s number one client over the years.
Visitor volume from January through July to Las Vegas is down 55 per cent.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reports that 13.65 million fewer people have travelled to southern Nevada in 2020 than they did in the same seven months in 2019.
Mr Bosworth believes Virgin will appeal to both travellers and locals.
“We’ve really created a full resort setting we think is going to be really well received, not only by the travelling consumer, but also by what I would call our most important microphone, and that’s the local Las Vegas community,” Ms Bosworth declared.
Virgin Hotels Las Vegas will come with a 60,000-square metre-foot casino operated by Mohegan Gaming, a 4500 seat live music and entertainment theatre, a five acre pool complex and 12 food and beverage establishments.
