Caesars Virginia in Danville has confirmed that construction of its permanent resort is proceeding as planned and is expected to open before the end of the year. The $750 million project on the former Dan River Inc. textile campus is making great progress, as highlighted at a recent Virginia Lottery board meeting. Ray Dunkle, the lottery’s director of gaming operations, reported that the construction site looks “significantly different” and that the resort is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of the year.
Once an economic hub for Danville, the historic site has preserved its iconic “Three Sisters” smokestacks to honor its past. Located just north of the North Carolina border, Danville has a rich history steeped in textile manufacturing and tobacco production, and was even the last capital of the Confederacy.
Upon completion, Caesars Virginia will be a 320-room hotel and a bustling casino with approximately 1,300 slot machines, 85 live dealer table games, 24 electronic table games, a Caesars Sportsbook and a World Series of Poker Room. Other resort amenities include a full-service spa, an outdoor pool, a 2,500-seat live concert theater, 4,600 square feet of meeting and conference space and a variety of food and beverage options.
To operate such a sprawling facility, Caesars Entertainment is seeking more than 650 employees and is hosting a job fair at the Bryan Park Conference Center in Browns Summit. Available positions range from table game dealers, pit supervisors and managers to public relations specialists, slot machine attendants, kitchen staff, waiters, HVAC technicians and electricians. These positions will complement the approximately 430 team members currently employed at the resort’s temporary pavilion-tent casino, which houses 826 slot machines and 36 table games and generated $19.2 million in gross gaming revenue in June alone.
When it first applied to partner with Danville, Caesars had promised to hire 1,300 employees. However, the company later received approval from the Danville City Council to reduce that number to at least 900 employees as labor and material costs skyrocketed due to inflation. The number of hotel rooms was also reduced from the 500 originally promised to 320. Despite these changes, the investment in the project has increased from the originally planned $500 million to $750 million.
The original development agreement called for the construction of at least 300 hotel rooms of four stars or more, a standard that Caesars continues to uphold. The completion of this project promises to breathe new life into Danville, attracting numerous visitors and creating numerous jobs.
