The city also registered the highest percentage of “YES” votes with 70% of Bristol residents approving their casino measure.ĭanville had the second highest percentage of approval with 69% while Portsmouth had a 67% approval rate. First Full Service Casino to Open in Virginiaīristol was one of five cities in Virginia that were given the opportunity to put up a casino through a public vote and one of four to approve the measure in a 2020 referendum. The casino management also said that the full facility will still create the estimated 1,200 part-time and full-time jobs, many of which will be filled locally. Lucas added that the number of slot machines in the permanent casino could be reduced a little bit but the number of games and tables will not. Lucas says that the interim casino has “turned up nicely” and they figured that it would be best if they “spruce it up” and make it a part of the permanent building.

They then found out that tearing down the Sears building would be cheaper than trying to retrofit it, as per the original blueprint.Īnother tweak in Hard Rock’s plan is to retain the current 30,000-square-foot temporary gambling facility. “We are confident, and I think part of the delay in getting going here was to work through those issues and get confident on a date - but we have a commitment to Virginia Lottery, and we will live up to that for sure.” Changes to Original Plan and LayoutĪccording to Lucas, supply chain issues and the escalating construction costs forced them to take another look at how to go about with the construction.

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