Winning Hand

Desert Diamond Goes 'All In' With New Casino and Hotel

By Alan M. Petrillo

Southern Arizona is getting its first combination casino and hotel with the expansion of the Desert Diamond Casino.

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The Tohono O'odham Nation has plenty to brag about with its new casino and hotel just outside Tucson - from the size and appointments of the structures to the fact that it is the first casino with a hotel attached in southern Arizona. The entire project is expected to cost $120 million.

The 165,000-sq-ft casino will house a 500-seat bingo hall, 998 slot machines, 35-seat keno area, 25 poker tables, two dozen blackjack tables, sports bar, 250-seat buffet, a high-end steakhouse, fast food area and lounges.

The four-story dual-tower hotel, served by four elevators, encompasses 150,000 sq ft and features 151 rooms, some with spa bathrooms. The banquet and conference hall measures 15,000 sq ft and lies between the casino and hotel, essentially tying the two together. The conference facility also includes three meeting rooms, a fitness area, coffee bar and shops.

The casino, located at 7350 S. Nogales Highway, is expected to be completed in October and the hotel in November. The new casino will replace the original facility, which began its life as Papago Bingo in 1984 and then converted to a casino in 1993 when gaming compacts were approved between Arizona and Indian tribes. The old casino, a concrete structure housing more than 800 gambling machines, is scheduled to be torn down once the new casino and hotel are completed.

Don Scoggins, project manager for Phoenix-based general contractor Kitchell Contractors, says he's worked on a number of casino projects and not many have a hotel nearby.

"This hotel will have common floors on the first and second floors, while the third and fourth floors will constitute the hotel's towers," he says. "And they've allowed for expansion on the south side of the hotel by designing a corridor in that direction so an expansion can be added and not disrupt anything in the existing hotel."

Construction of the casino took 4,700 yds of concrete, while the hotel used 3,500 yds, according to Scoggins. Exterior framing and metal studding has been completed on both structures, preparatory to installing the EIFS exterior.

"We've had no difficulties on the job so far," Scoggins says. "Every day on a construction job you face little situations, but nothing that has deterred us."

"All our work is design-build so we did the structural design and steel construction for the project," says Mark Mosher, managing partner of the job's steel contractor, AmFab Inc. of Bernalillo, N.M.. "Our design team handled the structural design directly for the architect while our construction component put up the steel frame."

AmFab has worked on 30 Native American casinos in the country, and Mosher says that working on casinos is very different than other projects.

"Casinos are completely different animals," he said. "You have about 25% of the time to build a casino than any other commercial project," he adds. "The quicker they get the doors open the better."

Joe Baruffaldi, the project manager for JCJ Architecture Inc. in San Diego, the architect on the project, says that casinos have elements that are not found elsewhere.

"The interior design elements and the water features inside the casino are somewhat unique, and it always represents a challenge in putting all the different systems together," he adds.

Baruffaldi says that casino owners are always concerned about air quality, so there's usually a greater focus put on mechanical systems.

"And the electrical systems are pretty complicated with both emergency power and the uninterruptable power source systems providing power and data to gaming locations," he adds.

"We also were able to take advantage of the fact that the structural engineer was part of a design-build group, which allowed the integration of shared computer models between the structural engineer and the fabrication partner.

That really helped the project maintain its schedule."

Scoggins says that surveillance is a large consideration in any casino.

"They have cameras that watch everything, constantly," he says. "Where there are machines or tables, cameras will be watching them. That means miles and miles of wiring."

Scott Sirois, CEO for the Tohono O'odham Gaming Enterprise, says there were some building height restrictions to deal with because the site is close to Tucson International Airport. He points out that the architect had its hands full in designing and situating the new casino and hotel while not infringing on running the existing casino.

"The footprint of the property was challenging in trying to get the right orientation of the new facility, while maintaining the ongoing operation in the existing facility," he adds.

Sirois says the time was right to build a hotel at the site, although keeping the existing building was not an option.

"The existing building was nearing the end of its life cycle, and rather than try to remodel it, the Nation opted to replace the whole thing and add a hotel to it," he says.

Key Players
Owner: Tohono O'odham Nation
Architect: JCJ Architecture Inc.
General Contractor: Kitchell Contractors
Electrical: Delta Diversified Enterprises
Mechanical: Sun Mechanical Contracting
Steel: AmFab Inc.
Concrete: Kitchell Contractors

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