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Hard Rock: Bigger, better and ready to roll

The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino unveils its $120-million expansion today.

By STEVE HUETTEL, Times Staff Writer
Published September 27, 2007

Mike Dwyre works on finishing the installment of the "wonder wall," part of the expanded Seminole Hard Rock Casino, which opens to the public today.
	[Kathleen Flynn | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Kathleen Flynn | Times] A worker puts final touches on the expanded casino, which opens to the public at noon today. The addition has 50 percent more gaming room space. [Kathleen Flynn | Times] A beaded concert jacket worn by Jimi Hendrix is an interactive memorabilia display at the expanded hotel and casino.

TAMPA - In a wing hidden from gamblers by a huge black curtain, a memorabilia designer positioned Jimi Hendrix's suede, beaded concert jacket with care Thursday in a display case.

Technicians tinkered with electronics that project videos on a 29-foot-wide plexiglass screen behind a lighted waterfall. Butchers sliced slabs of beef for diners at the new steak house designed to compete with best in the Tampa Bay area.

At noon today, the public will get a first look at the $120-million expansion of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The addition makes Tampa's Hard Rock the largest casino in Florida, with 3,075 gambling machines spread across a 3.3-acre gaming floor.

That's about half the number of slot machines at such Connecticut Indian mega-casinos as the 7,200-slot Foxwoods Resorts and Casino, but more than the 2,170-slot Bally's Atlantic City and 2,000-slot Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

The timing could hardly be better for its owner, the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminoles are in final negotiations on a deal that would let the tribe replace bingo-based machines with more lucrative Las Vegas-style slots and offer card games like blackjack and baccarat at its seven Florida casinos.

Tribal leaders weren't preparing for upgraded gambling when they decided to expand the casino more than a year ago, said John Fontana, president of the Tampa Hard Rock.

Instead, the 3-year-old casino on Interstate 4 needed to grow to handle crowds that peaked at 20,000 people a day in the busy winter season and averaged more than 11,000 year-round.

"We've had nights when every machine had someone in front of it and people standing behind them," Fontana said. "It's not about having just enough. It's about having plenty."

It's about more than plenty for high-rollers. Friday marks the public opening of the Council Oak, where a 24-ounce New York Strip runs $46.75 and the wine list has 130 selections.

For the next six weekends, the casino will host its biggest players in complimentary rooms with hot tubs, monogrammed robes and pillow cases embroidered with their names.

The second phase of the expansion opens Nov. 15 with a VIP lounge with a chef on duty and a high-stakes gaming room.

Electric and data wires that will support 3,200 bingo machines by November could just as easily handle as many Vegas-style slots.

And the Seminoles still have space grow on the 40-plus-acre site. The 250-room hotel is often sold out. "I could use another 750 rooms," Fontana said.

Clock ticks on new deal 

It's getting down to crunch time for Florida to decide on expanding gambling at Indian casinos.

Top staffers for Gov. Charlie Crist are set to meet Monday with Seminole Tribe officials to resolve remaining issues in a deal that would allow Las Vegas-style slot machines and card games like blackjack, said Barry Richard, an attorney for the Seminoles.

The agreement, called a compact, would give the state a share of gaming revenue -reportedly as much as $200-million a year - from the tribe's seven casinos. Leaders of the Republican-led state House oppose giving the Seminoles more than the upgraded slot machines already in use at three Broward County race tracks.

Crist said earlier he would submit any deal for the Legislature's approval. But a draft agreement released last week stated that the governor has the right "to act for the state" in signing a compact and sending it to federal officials.

[Last modified September 26, 2007, 23:30:49]