Another $80 million committed to casino expansion

Thursday, Aug. 2, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY -- Harrah's Atlantic City, currently in the midst of a $113 million expansion, will now spend another $80 million to add more floor space and become more elegant.

The new expansion plan, which was approved Wednesday by the city's planning board, calls for an additional 28,000 square feet of casino space with 950 slot machines; a 19,500-square-foot grand lobby and entryway, expanded buffet areas and facade improvements.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas also wants to create a "romantic cityscape park setting" outside the casino, featuring row house facades, meandering paths and decorative light standards.

Company officials said the casino and lobby work, which should be completed by June, will complement a $113 million expansion which is ongoing at the site. That expansion will add 452 hotel rooms that will open in April.

The expansion will also help Harrah's compete with the neighboring Borgata casino hotel, a $1 billion structure scheduled to open in two years.

"We've got to keep ratcheting up the place so when the Borgata opens, we don't look like the poor neighbors," said David Jonas, Harrah's general manager.

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