Riverside Casino reopens

Posted 6/3/20

The Riverside Casino and Golf Resort welcomed back guests on Monday morning.

The casino reopened for business on the first day allowed by Gov. Kim Reynolds’ May 26 proclamation.

A steady …

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Riverside Casino reopens

Posted

The Riverside Casino and Golf Resort welcomed back guests on Monday morning.

The casino reopened for business on the first day allowed by Gov. Kim Reynolds’ May 26 proclamation.

A steady flow of guests came through the doors beginning at 6 a.m.

“Considering the restrictions, business has been pretty good today, especially for a Monday,” Riversides’ Director of Marketing Danna Campbell said.

However, it was not business as usual.

Campbell said that the gaming tables and poker room were still not open on Monday.

“The poker room is closed, as well as the table games for right now,” Campbell said. “We are working on a plan to open them.”

All casino employees were wearing masks, and guests were encouraged to wear them, with the casino even offering free masks.

Numerous hand sanitizing stations are visible throughout the property.

Casino staff are stationed behind plexiglass barriers, and employees are stationed at each entrance to the casino floor keeping track of the number of people coming and going.

Part of the governor’s reopening requirements is that the casino floor can only run at 50% occupancy.

General Manager Dan Franz said that equated to about 600 people.

“We’ve been going through and getting that clarified in terms of exactly what that number is,” Franz said. “It should be around a maximum of 600 people on the gaming floor at any one time.”

Franz said that they have been working to set up the gaming floor for social distancing.

“It restricts the amount of gaming positions – slot machines and table games – that can be open and operating,” he said. “They need to have six feet between them. All of our slot machines likely won’t be available for play.”

The casino’s hotel and restaurants, except for Robert’s Buffet, also opened on Monday.

“Right now, you can’t have a self-serve buffet restaurant,” Franz said.

The property voluntarily shut down on March 16, just days before Reynolds ordered a mandatory closure. The golf course was allowed to open on April 1.

The casino paid its employees through April 30.

“It’s been tough,” Franz said. “We’ve been shut down for two and a half months. We paid all of our employees through April 30.

“Then, we put most of the employees on temporary furlough. We’re bringing them back into play now.”

Many employees started being called back to work last week to prepare for Monday’s opening.

Franz hopes that business will be strong enough to bring back all of the employees soon.

“I think the current proclamation ends on June 17, and we’ll see what happens then,” he said. “In general, we plan to bring back our employees and get them working. We hope the business levels will come back strong, and we’ll be in a position to bring everyone back.”