One of the oldest casinos in Las Vegas is fast becoming one of its newest.
Station Casinos on Wednesday unveiled portions of its $192 million expansion to the venerable Palace Station, which was considered one of the city’s original “locals” casinos, geared toward the Las Vegas locals market, when it opened in 1976.
The changes include an expanded and renovated gaming area, four new dining outlets, additional entertainment attractions – particularly a nine-screen luxury movie theater – more parking, and new aesthetics, such as exterior signage and a revamped façade.
Company executives said the expansion, which began in 2016 and should be completed by the end of year, modernizes the Palace Station and will enable it to better compete with an expanding locals market, potentially even attracting guests from the Las Vegas Strip.
“We’re able to add new attractions to the property that give locals another reason to visit us and (gives us) the ability to grow our customer base,” said Palace Station General Manager Scott Nelson.
The casino changes include a new bingo room, a renovated race and sports book, an expanded poker room, and 500 additional slot machines that gives Palace Station, in total, some 1,800 gambling devices, along with 43 table games.
The restaurants include two Asian-themed eateries, a burger-and-beers offering, and an upgraded buffet. Palace Station leaders also pointed out that the property’s long-established restaurants – including the Oyster Bar and Charcoal Room steakhouse – would remain part of the lineup.
Palace Station Feast Buffet
Much of the space will open in phases. Station Casinos brought in Chef Ralph Perrazzo and his New York-based restaurant bBd’s (Beers-Burgers-Deserts), which opens Labor Day Weekend, while Boathouse Asian Eatery, a Northern California outlet, will open in August.
The 222,000-square-foot, two-story expansion is 44 times the size of “The Casino,” the original property developed by company founder Frank Fertitta Jr. Each of the restaurants being added to the property are larger than the original 5,000-square-foot building. The new bingo room is 8,000-square feet.
Fertitta opened the small location with 100 slot machines and a snack bar on the site at Sahara Boulevard near Interstate 15 as a place for local residents – mainly casino workers – to hang out away from the Strip.
Expansions quickly began, and a year later the property added more games and restaurants and was renamed Bingo Palace. In 1983, the property expanded again, taking on a railroad theme and becoming Palace Station. Station Casinos spokeswoman Lori Nelson said Palace Station had undergone 12 different expansions prior to this latest undertaking.
The railroad theme façade was taken down in 2016 and the eight1,200-pound train replicas donated to the Neon Museum in Las Vegas. The older, low-rise motel portion of the Palace Station was torn down last year to make way for the expansion.
The new exterior includes two 20MM LED video display walls, an 82-foot wide, 21-foot tall LED sign at the property’s northeast corner, and an 83-foot wide, 34-foot tall LED board wrapped around the corner of the building at the south entrance.
New Palace Station pool area
The Palace Station’s 575 hotel rooms are being renovated throughout the summer and the property opened a new resort-style pool area on May 1, which features a raised bar, dining area, event lawn, private cabanas, and daybeds.
The movie theater complex takes up the second floor of the expansion and includes luxury recliner seating and a restaurant concept serving food, beer and wine, both before and during movies, delivered right to the customer’s seat.
Station Casinos is owned by Red Rock Resorts, and during the corporation’s quarterly earnings conference call in May, officials said there had been some “construction disruption” at the property. Many of the new enhancements are, nonetheless, being completed ahead of schedule.
“We’ve already seen extremely positive guest response to those portions of the project that have been put into service,” Red Rock Resorts CFO Stephen Cootey said in his prepared remarks.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
