The operators of River Rock Casino today announced plans to move forward with construction of a destination resort on its rancheria in Alexander Valley.
The $300 million, 600,000-square foot resort will include a casino, 260 guest rooms, luxury suites, meeting rooms, a pool, spa and restaurants and will replace the current tent-covered casino currently on the site overlooking the Alexander Valley in Sonoma County.
The resort, described as a Tuscan Village, will employ up to 2,000 workers. The current casino will remain open during construction, according to a press statement released Thursday by the River Rock Entertainment Authority, operator of the casino.
?This resort will be a unique economic development opportunity to help our tribe and our members, an unmatched destination resort experience to please our visitors, and a spectacular addition to benefit our neighbors in the Alexander Valley,? said Harvey Hopkins, Chairman of the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians.
A completion date was not immediately available, but construction will begin after a formal environmental review and receipt of necessary financing, according to Hopkins.
In May the tribe obtained federal permission to expand its wastewater treatment system, a key step for building the long-planned hotel-resort to complement its gambling facility.
At that time Sonoma County officials expressed ?deep concern? over the tribe?s plans, saying that the wastewater permit would remove the last physical and legal restraint on developing the controversial project.
Many Alexander Valley residents have been at odds with the casino since it opened in 2002 in their picturesque grape-growing region.
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