Here Comes the Sun
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Southern Arizona is expanding its Casino Del Sol in Tucson with a $98-million Sol Casinos Hotel and Convention Center.
The expansion will add 215 luxury hotel rooms and a conference center that will be able to accommodate 1,500 people in performance and theatrical configurations or up to 800 for dining upon opening in fall 2011.
In addition, the facility will feature a fine-dining steakhouse with seating for up to 100 people; an international buffet with seating up to 250; lobby lounge and bar; exercise facility with full-service spa; outdoor pool and sundeck; and 1,120 car, multilevel protected parking structure.
Construction started in March with McCarthy Building Cos. of Tempe as general contractor. Leo A Daly of Phoenix is the project architect.
Kurt Nyberg, McCarthy’s project manager, says the project consists of four major components — the 10-story, cast-in-place concrete, post-tensioned hotel tower; the cast-in-place parking garage, with approximately 90,000-sq-ft per floor and three floors above ground and one below; the single-story steel construction convention center with a 14,000-sq-ft ballroom; and a warehouse and laundry facility on a single level of approximately 15,000 sq ft.
“The challenge to this project is the multiple phases, building the significant major components and working around the existing facility without interrupting any operations,” Nyberg says. “The expansion abuts the existing casino and makes a seamless transition between the two.”
Nyberg adds that one of the differences in working with a tribe is the existence of the Tribal Employment Rights Office.
“It’s our obligation to benefit as many in the tribal community as possible, and the focus of our team is to involve as many qualified tribal members in construction jobs throughout the trades,” he says.
Nyberg points out that McCarthy has worked on a number of tribal projects, including those for the...
