Located just an easy drive from Atlanta and Chattanooga, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel is not only an exciting destination for games in the Western North Carolina region but also a superb accommodation option for overnight visitors.
However, 2024 is going to see the venue expand even more thanks to an upcoming $275 million construction project that will bring an expanded 25,000 square foot gaming floor for players, a hotel tower with 296 rooms, and a massive parking deck with 1,500 spaces.
The exciting expansion project was initiated on September 29, closely following the casino’s seventh anniversary.
According to Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River’s general manager, Lumpy Lambert, the highly-anticipated expansion project he had envisioned years ago is expected to generate revenue for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI).
At the same time, the project is expected to assist “tribal distribution for enrolled members and job opportunities”.
Representatives of general contractor Robins & Morton along with GM Lambert took a tour of the new sites that will host 400 brand new slot machines next year, together with one dozen table games, a casino bar that will count 22 seats, and a World Series of Poker poker room with 10 seats.
Lambert expressed his content regarding the progress of the project whose necessity was identified eight years ago when the venue opened its gates to the world.
While “looking forward to the opportunity to grow and expand”, Lambert also projected 100 fresh incremental positions and further emphasized their main goals to support tribal programming and distribution for the EBCI.
Local Artists to Help Maintain Cultural Integration
The upgrade will include a series of specific design elements showcasing the Cherokee culture to maintain the cultural integration of Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos.
With this idea in mind, the project will hire local artists whose role will be to “infuse the culture” as best as possible.
The new gaming floor is expected to become available for casino patrons and guests alike by the middle of 2024.
The parking deck will shortly follow, with an estimated opening time scheduled for the summer of 2024. Finally, the new hotel tower will become available to the public toward the end of next year.
For the time being, the River Tower provides 300 spacious guest rooms endowed with state-of-the-art amenities conveniently located right next to the gaming space. The venue is also home to UltraStar, a bowling alley and arcade that packs numerous family-friendly gaming options.