BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino is increasing the odds that visitors to the Queen City will stop by. The casino's $40 million expansion is nearly complete, and features a 20 foot tall video screen to greet visitors at its entrance.
"We're going to have all different types of content on there," said Joanne Israel, the casino's general manager. "We'll also be featuring our own Seneca culture. A lot of tourists come into the area, and we really wanted to showcase our nation and our history with the surrounding area."
Its history is what drives the Seneca Nation's continued investment in Buffalo, and as they grow their business, they're also increasing their team by 300 employees; 200 have already been hired.
"This has been part of the Seneca Nation's homeland for a long time before there was a City of Buffalo or Erie County. So we take a little more pride I guess than other corporations would with the area," said Kevin Seneca, vice chairman of the Seneca Gaming Corporation Board of Directors. "It's a great move for the prosperity of the nation and the people. We saw the writing on the wall 10 years ago when we opened the temporary facility that it was a huge draw."
Now there are hundreds of new slot machines, including more than 140 in the non-smoking gaming area. And because of its location, guests don't have to walk through smoke to get to it.
"We had a previous non-smoking area that was right off of our gaming floor, but it didn't have a blocked off wall area, it didn't have a private section. We were able in this expansion to have a non-smoking section right off the lobby," said Israel.
Just upstairs is the WD Bar and Grille, which is now open for dinner five nights a week.
"I think our restaurant is a great compliment to our KeyBank Center and all the events we have going on downtown. People can stop for a bite to eat, then they can go to the game, they can come back and do some gaming," said Israel.
There's more to come once construction is complete, including The Creek restaurant which will offer casual dining all day.
The new High Limit gaming area is also in the works, along with somewhere to shop.
"We're hoping to open that in the coming weeks as well, which will have a variety of different retail items, some that will have a tie to Buffalo, some local vendors will be in there," said Israel.
The casino is planning to host a grand opening of the expansion in late April.