Courtesy of The Lemoine Co.

A rendering of the new 90,000-sq-ft, five-story casino hotel now under construction in Harvey, La.

Lemoine Co. Project Operations Manager John Manion says the hotel at Boomtown Casino will feature 150 guest rooms, a fitness center, conference space and a 210-space parking lot. The hotel will be connected to the existing casino facilities by a covered walkway.

Whereas most hotels of this size are four stories high, lead architect Slack Alost and local architect Mathes Brierre Architects designed the hotel with a fifth story to accommodate a smaller footprint.

Manion says it adds a few more complexities than a typical construction of hotel of this size.

“Once you go above four floors, it changes the some of the construction, fire ratings, seismic environment and things of that nature,” says Manion.

The project is also unique in that it employs wooden framing, something not often used in commercial construction. The contractor is installing uplift anchors and using different types of assemblies to accommodate the design. Portions of the exterior walls will also have additional sheeting to meet fire code ratings.

Manion says the design and techniques were used to reduce costs and meet the client's budget. As the client aims for a grand opening on July 4, 2014, Lemoine also needed to use fast track procurement to meet the short timeline.

“We actually started driving piles for the project before it was even finished being drawn. We broke ground with just a conceptual estimate and a few renderings and we're now building within the budget [and timeline] we established,” says Manion.