DANVILLE, Va. (WFXR) – Caesar’s Virginia broke ground on the site of its new casino in August of 2022. A little over two years later it’s ready to open its doors.
Excitement levels among casino staff are certainly building.
“It’s been an exciting journey here,” Chris Albrecht, the casino’s general manager, said. “I’ve been here for over two years now, and just to see this all coming together now and being this close, watching the team start to get into their spaces and put on their uniforms and starting to feel out all the different areas of this property, it’s going to be something so exciting.”
They’re excited enough to let local media outlets come inside for an exclusive tour of the main floor a week before the grand opening.
Inside, there are about 1,500 slot machines and other electronic games, along with 79 live table games. There’s also a Caesar’s sportsbook with plenty of televisions, and a World Series of Poker, poker room with 21 tables inside.
Additionally, there are several bars and restaurants to choose from, including Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen. A lot of the restaurants are local, and hope to bring the taste of the River City to the masses.
“I think (visitors) are going to see a lot of Danville within what we’re putting here, most distinctly is going to be the 500 Block restaurants we have here with our local partners Rick Barker and Steve Perry,” Albrecht said. “You’re going to see a lot of the downtown elements of Danville in there.”
The casino is also expected to be a major economic factor.
On top of the tens of millions of dollars in expected tax revenue, it plans to create hundreds of new jobs.
“The team did an amazing job really getting through a lot of different hiring events,” Albrecht said. “I think you guys saw that we had so many going here on the Virginia and the North Carolina side, and we are getting very close actually to that 1,200 number, and hopefully we can maintain that as we get up and through that opening.”
The opening day celebration next Tuesday will begin at 10:15 a.m. Doors will officially open at noon.