All eyes looked toward the sky Wednesday, as the last steel beam of the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino $40 million expansion was set into place.
Seneca Nation Chairman Barry Snyder said the construction milestone, just four months after the expansion began, represents how the Nation and Western New York get things done.
"When we set out in 2002 to open the Seneca Niagara Casino in a hundred days, people said we couldn't do it, but we did," he said. "When we said we wanted to build in Buffalo's Inner Harbor area, people thought it wouldn't happen. We made it happen, just like we made it happen in Niagara and Salamanca," Snyder said.
"Now we're making it happen again," said Snyder. "We've come a long way and we are going to keep going and keep going together. "
He said once its finished, the casino will have added nearly 30,000 square feet of amenities on each level of the two-story casino.
"Once completed the casino expansion will feature more than 300 new slot machines, additional table games, as well as enhancing amenities including a new Western Door restaurant on the second floor, new banquet and meeting space, and new retail on the first floor," Snyder said.
"When the expansion opens, we are adding approximately 300 new jobs here at Buffalo Creek for this project," he said. The property's total workforce will be more than 800 when the expansion is complete early next year. An additional 440 construction jobs were created for the expansion.
After opening in 2007, the casino expanded several times and will be a more than $200 million investment when this latest project is complete, Snyder said. He said the casino attracts some three million visitors each year and this expansion will help meet the demand.
The casino provides nearly $6 million in revenue annually for city coffers.
