Rivers Casino Set To Reopen After Being Closed For Months Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- For the first time in almost three months the Rivers Casino in Allegheny County and Meadows Casino in Washington County are opening its doors to guests.
There are safety changes in place to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doors were supposed to open at 9 a.m. Tuesday, but due to demand the Rivers Casino started letting people in at 7 a.m.
"I had to be here the first day," Barb Yadorka, from Allison Park, said.
Inside customers were welcomed with 140 hand sanitizing stations, mask requirements, more than 240,000 freshly scrubbed chips for table games and a limit of chairs per table.
Other measures included leaving some slot machines without chairs to promote social distancing. Barriers were set up between kiosks and counters to protect employees and guests.
"Just making sure that we could think about every effort we could to make it safe for our guests and our employees," Rivers General Manager Bill Keena said near the casinos table games.
The casino is operating at 50% capacity until further notice, and will be open from 9 a.m. - 4 a.m. on weekdays and around the clock on weekends. The downtime will allow for a deep clean.
Masks are REQUIRED for staff and guests. @KDKA
— Chris Hoffman (@NewsmanChris) June 9, 2020
More than half of the 1,700 employees are back to work.
According to the Keena, all the safety measures and the training of employees cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"It needed to be done, and it's the right thing to do," he said.
"It's one of the safer places I've been," Steve Melek, from Youngstown, said as he walked around the casino.
If that wasn't enough, some guests brought extra safety equipment or have plans to deep clean themselves when they leave.
"When I get home, I'm going to get in the garage, strip naked, throw everything in the washing machine and jump in the shower," Yadorka said laughingly.
After being closed for almost three months, guests were excited to try their luck once again at winning big.
"We were waiting for it to open, and sure enough it did," Melek said with a laugh.
"My husband thinks I'm nuts, but I think I thought the machines would have been sitting all this time, so they'd be lucky today," Yadorka said.
There is no timeline for when it will be able to open all its facilities and be at 100% capacity.
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