Dover
Downs Reports Expansion Plan
Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment,
Inc. (NYSE: DDE) announced an expansion plan
that will more than double the number of hotel
rooms and add a luxurious 8,000-square-foot
spa to the Dover Downs Hotel & Casino.
By
the summer of 2007, the Company expects to have
added 268 luxury rooms to the Dover Downs Hotel
& Casino, bringing the total number of rooms
to 500. Twelve of these rooms will be specially
designed spa suites featuring either hot tubs,
pool tables or fireplaces plus wet bars and
plasma screen TVs.
"This
expansion is the next step in our plan to make
Dover Downs one of the premier gaming destinations
on the East Coast," said Denis McGlynn,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Dover
Downs Gaming & Entertainment. "We are
very excited to offer more rooms and additional
amenities to our current and future customers.
Given the consistently strong occupancy levels
we have seen since our hotel opened in 2002,
it is our belief that these improvements will
attract more casino customers to Dover Downs."
McGlynn added that approximately 50 new jobs
are expected to be generated when the expansion
comes on-line bringing total employment at Dover
Downs Gaming & Entertainment to almost 1,000.
Friedmutter
Group was retained as the principal architect
for the project late last year and Dover Downs
expects to enter into a construction management
agreement with T.N. Ward Company shortly. Both
companies are industry leaders in casino and
hotel design and construction, having worked
on facilities in both Atlantic City and Las
Vegas. Construction on the $52 million project
is expected to begin in April following final
City of Dover Planning Commission approval.
A 16-month construction period is anticipated.
Dover
Downs Hotel & Casino already boasts a AAA-rated
Four-Diamond hotel, an array of fine dining
options, 2,500 of the most popular slot machines
available, with many featuring state-of-the-art
ticket-in ticket-out technology, and the Rollins
Center®, an 18,000-square-foot multipurpose
ballroom which routinely features headline entertainment
such as Bill Cosby, Wayne Newton, Tom Jones
and The Temptations as well as business conferences,
conventions and banquets. For the past three
years, the property has earned the title of
"Best Racino" by the readers of Casino
Player magazine.
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