Last
week, his company announced that it was considering a new $50 million 200-room
expansion to accommodate a steady flow of gamblers and hotel guests.
“During
calendar year 2001,” said a company spokesman, “we had to turn down almost
100,000 requests for rooms because the hotel had no vacancies.” In February,
the property managers said the hotel recorded a 96% occupancy rate for the
month.
“That
says we need more rooms,” said General Manager Larry Lepinski. “We don’t
want to turn people away.”
Lepinski
said he firmly believed “that adding more rooms will grow the market. We could
increase gaming revenues $3 million to $4 million a month.” Typically, the
property generates in excess of $20 million monthly.
The
proposal sits well with area businesses. “The casinos drive the weekend
market,” said a hotel association official, adding, “an additional 300 rooms
would bring even more dollars to the area.”
