Seneca Gaming showed off its $40 million latest addition to the Buffalo Creek Casino, part of $200 million poured into the facility that was started when the neighborhood was bare, with more to come.
The casino has been expanded so fast over the years that almost everyone can still remember the original blue metal start-up building that started the project along Fulton Street in Buffalo. It was eventually demolished, as there was a much more elaborate plan for the relatively small site.
"The completion of this $40 million expansion is a continuation of Seneca history," said Seneca President Todd Gates. "It was in 2005 that our nation was able to return to these nine acres of land and return it back to the Seneca people, generations after it had been taken from our ancestors. This was a historic moment for our people, a moment that we will always remember and take great pride in."
The latest casino expansion includes hundreds more gaming machines, a performance bar, a new sports bar, new restaurants, a shop for sports clothing and crystal. Gaming Corporation Chairman Barry Snyder said it reflects the nation's role in a regional economy, where it is one of the largest employers.
"Significant economic impact - Seneca Gaming Corporation continues to have as one of the region's largest employers," said Snyder. "Approximately 300 new casino jobs are being created as part of this project, as well as 400 construction jobs. I want to thank the hard-working skilled trades workers who have been part of this more than $1 billion in construction projects we have completed since 2002."
Snyder and Gates said the nation has poured $1 billion into Buffalo Creek, the Allegany Resort & Casino and Niagara Resort & Casino and there will be more expansion of their existing casinos in Niagara Falls and Salamanca. Gates said it shows the nation is back to stay.
"The Seneca Nation immediately went to work re-writing that history, ours and that of the surrounding area," he said. "What you see here today - not only here at Buffalo Creek, Niagara Falls, Salamanca and throughout the region - is evidence of what has happened because of the Seneca people and the fact that we never left and because the Seneca Nation never gave up and because the Seneca Nation is committed to our home and our neighbors."
