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Trades try to leave a light footprint at Motor City Casino

Date Posted: August 3 2007

DETROIT - If it's possible to work delicately around an operating casino while erecting an adjacent conference center, 17-story hotel, conference center and parking deck - the Michigan Industrial Group (MIG), their subs and at least 400 building trades workers are pulling it off.

"We're in a confined area, putting up about $275 million in construction around an existing gaming operation, and we're doing our best to keep away from where they're making money," said Paul Jenkins Jr., vice president of business development for MIG. "Overall, things are going well."

So it goes with the expansion of the Motor City Casino, which began in November 2005 and is expected to wrap up this fall. The grand opening for the expanded casino took place on June 7 - now, ongoing work at Grand River and the Lodge Freeway includes a 401-room hotel, a new parking deck, a 185,000-square-foot conference center and 1,200-seat theatre venue.

"We've made some unbelievable progress," Jenkins said. "The tradespeople and our contractors are on the same page, and we're building this complex just as flawlessly as possible."

The original Motor City Casino opened in the century-old Wonder Bread bakery building in 1999. There was 65,000 square-feet of gaming space added for a total of 105,000 square-feet of space. The expansion's exterior remains faithful to the original building's brick exterior, and the masonry covers most of the lower-level buildings.

No so with the glass curtain-walled hotel, which is easily the tallest structure in the area, rising 250 feet. At the very top of the hotel is a cavernous restaurant and club with a 50-foot-tall ceiling. An automotive theme dominates the design of the building, which is topped by a massive stainless steel architectural feature at the top of the building that looks a bit like chrome.

"We intend to build a quality hotel and entertainment complex far beyond anything that is currently available in the city and be the first casino to open a new facility," said MotorCity Casino owner Marian Ilitch. "The expanded property will usher in a new era in the hospitality industry in Detroit."

The completed project will add approximately 300 jobs to MotorCity's current base of nearly 2,700 employees.

Added Gregg Solomon, CEO of Detroit Entertainment, L.C.C., owner and operator of Motor City Casino: "The property design will be an extension of the MotorCity Casino brand and include elements that will make it a must see for visitors to the City of Detroit."

IRON WORKERS Steve Basinger and Craig McEntyre of Local 25 and Aristeo hook up a decorative section of sheet metal, to be installed along the roof line of the Motor City Casino's hotel.
A FIXTURE FOR A SMOKE detector is assembled in a corridor on the 15th floor of the Motor City Casino hotel by Cliff Chaney of IBEW Local 58 and Bayview Electric.