Groundbreaking marks start of Thunder Valley expansion
By Art Campos -
acampos@sacbee.com
Last Updated 2:09 pm PDT Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The United Auburn Indian Community will break ground Wednesday at Thunder Valley Casino near Lincoln on an expansion project that will include construction of a 23-story hotel atop the current gaming facility.
Besides the planned five-star, 650-room hotel, the facility will include a convention center, ballrooms, more gaming space, restaurants, a spa, a lounge, a 3,000-seat performing arts center and a parking structure.
The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. at the south-entrance parking lot at the casino, 1212 Athens Ave.
Doug Elmets, a spokesman for the Indian tribe, which owns the casino, said in a news release that the expansion project will create about 1,000 construction jobs and 1,200 permanent jobs. Completion is set for July 2010, he said.
Analysts have estimated cost of the expansion to be $1 billion.
When completed, the project will generate $10.2 million in property tax, $900,000 in food and beverage taxes and $1 million in occupancy tax annually for Placer County.
Source: www.sacbee.com/101/story/922065.html