Everything leading up to and into the Seneca Niagara Hotel will be renovated and made to compete with the finest gaming institutions in the world.
Leaders from the Seneca Nation of Indians and Seneca Gaming Corp. held a press conference on Friday morning to announce plans for a $40 million beautification and renovation project set to dramatically change the appearance and entryway on the east side of Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino. The plan is to enhance the Four Diamond experience guests enjoy at the downtown Niagara Falls resort property.
"We have long viewed our Niagara territory, and this vantage point of Seneca Niagara in particular, as standing at the front door to Niagara Falls. As more and more people visit our resort and discover - and rediscover - the wonders of Niagara, we want to make an immediate impression on them," said Seneca Nation President Todd Gates. "Over the past 15 years, the Seneca Nation has chartered the course and made significant investments to bring people and jobs to Niagara Falls. By making this latest investment, we are again letting the world know that there is something exciting and special for them to enjoy here."
Work on the multiphase project will feature a flowing, landscaped entry boulevard entering the property from John Daly Boulevard, complete with extensive landscaping, sculpture features, a new covered entryway, and an eye-catching glass façade. Inside the resort, crews will completely re-imagine the hotel lobby, including creating a new guest registration and VIP check-in area for hotel guests. The lobby bar will be relocated, thus creating expansive views into the casino area and, ultimately, future renovations to the popular restaurants located off the hotel lobby.
Site work is scheduled to begin in the coming weeks, with exterior work completed by this winter. The entire project is scheduled to be complete before fall 2019. Venue management said projects would be broken into chunks, thus making them more manageable - and ensuring guests will not be overly burdened by construction.
GO INSIDE THE NEW-LOOK LOBBY:
An artist's rendering of the proposed entryway.
"This project will personify the true feel of a Seneca resort property for every guest," added Seneca Gaming Corp. Chairman Barry E. Snyder Sr. "There will be a tangible sense of excitement and anticipation from the minute someone turns onto the new entry boulevard. That feeling will cascade throughout the entire property, from the new lobby through the hotel tower and spa, throughout the restaurants and across the gaming floor. Our guests' senses will be heightened, and their expectations exceeded. That has been our goal since day one."
The $40 million price tag associated with the "Seneca Arrival Experience" will bring the Seneca Nation's total investment and its Niagara territory to more than $600 million since crews transformed a former convention center space into the casino in the span of 100 days in 2002.
Speaking of 2002, a large group of original employees - those hired 15 years ago - were on hand to show their support for the renovation project. They are dressed in white in the photos below.
