Crews have made significant progress on the construction since breaking ground in December 2022.

At that time, the goal for opening was summer 2024.

“The building is all the way up now, so we have our hotel tower up,” said Casino President Allie Evangelista. “Rooms are being completed. We’ll have 300 rooms by the end of the year, but we’re on target to open the casino floor by July of this year.”

Evangelista said a specific date has not been set for the hotel’s opening, but she expected it to be sometime in the second half of 2024.

News Channel 11 got an exclusive first look at renderings of some of the new areas coming to the completed hotel and casino, including restaurants and the casino addition.

“We have some many more things coming, so more restaurants,” Evangelista said. “It’s called the Council Oak Steakhouse. We’ll have Asian gaming as well as an Asian restaurant.”

Evangelista said the construction also includes a Hard Rock Cafe and the Hard Rock Live entertainment center.

But construction crews still have plenty of work to do before the hotel and casino can open its doors.

“We have all of the hotel room furniture to arrive, we have to put carpet down, and build our restaurants,” Evangelista said.

The expanded casino also means more games for guests to enjoy.

“We’re growing our slot floor to 1,500 slot machines and 75 table games,” Evangelista said.

The expansion also comes at a cost. Evangelista said the price tag has grown from $400 million to $550 million because of construction cost increases and upgrades to some of the amenities.

The construction also requires Hard Rock to expand its workforce at the Bristol site.

As of Sunday, the casino employs approximately 600 people, a number that’ll need to double by the time the full hotel and casino opens.

“By the end of the year, we will have 1,300 team members, so I’m looking for 700 excited people to join the band,” said Vice President of Human Resources Marina Alvidrez.

The casino will hope to attract some of those workers through a series of upcoming community re-engagement events. Alvidrez said the casino offers quality jobs with opportunities to move up.

“We want to make sure that we are providing a life and a community-changing life for people that decide to start their careers here and grow their careers here,” Alvidrez said.

After a year and a half of operation, Evangelista said the Bristol venture has been successful.

According to the January Virginia Lottery Board presentation, the casino has paid out more than $172 million in jackpots since opening.

That has generated over $42 million in state gaming taxes since opening, with over $28 million in 2023.

The 14 Southwest Virginia communities (12 counties, and the cities of Bristol and Norton) are starting to see the impacts of the Regional Improvement Commission that receives a cut of that gaming tax revenue.

The casino said each locality in the commission received $625,000 in 2023.

Scott County used the funds for education and public safety, including an upgrade to the sheriff’s office firing range, and put money toward the Mountain Empire Community College Promise Program from county high school graduates.

Bristol, Virginia used its funding on new police vehicles, while Washington County, Virginia used the funds to support teacher pay raises.

The casino also set a monthly revenue record in December 2023.

Evangelista said the casino is becoming the tourism destination it was meant to be, and that will only improve once the full casino is built out.

“We have over 120,000 guests that have enrolled in our loyalty program locally here in Bristol,” Evangelista said. “That means guests from all 50 states of the United States.”

Evangelista said most business comes from local guests, which includes the Tri-Cities and areas within a three-hour drive, but secondary markets are emerging in Ohio, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas. She said that should mean a bigger Super Bowl party come next year.