EASTERN CONSTRUCTION.

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EASTERN CONSTRUCTION – CAESARS WINDSOR

Eastern Construction tackled the Caesars
Windsor project with the same flair for the
unusual it has exhibited in other projects.

A Forte for Unique Projects

Eastern Construction is leading the expansion of a gambling and entertainment hot spot. The Caesars
Windsor features luxury hotel rooms, gaming floors and entertainment facilities.

By Kelly McCabe The $439 million, 1 million-square-foot expansion brought

W hen the Ontario Lottery & Gaming (OLG) Corp.

wanted to build and expand on an existing casi-
no in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, it retained
– through a request for proposals process – Eastern Con-
struction, a company it felt had plenty of experience
with unique projects. “OLG has been very comfortable
working with Eastern Construction for their attention to
detail and successful completion of specialty-based proj-
ects like casinos,” OLG Corp. Construction Manager
Kendall Wayow says.
Toronto-based Eastern Construction is the biggest builder
of gaming facilities in Ontario, and its port-
Eastern Construction –
Caesars Windsor for Ontario folio includes unique projects such as art
Lottery & Gaming galleries, a ballet school and the Bata shoe
www.easternconstruction.com museum. “We’re a company that is attract-
www.caesarswindsor.com
www.olg.ca ed to unique-type projects – they seem to
Site: Windsor, Ontario, Canada be our forte,” Vice President of Operations
Scope: Casino expansion Renato Tacconelli says. “We like thinking
Renato Tacconelli, VP of oper-
ations: “We’re ... attracted to out of the box; we’re always challenging
unique-type projects.” ourselves.”
the size of the Caesars Windsor to 3 million square feet.
Original planning began in early 2004, and construction was
completed in June 19, 2008.
The original facility, known as Casino Windsor, was a
$500 million project that opened in 1998. “The new expan-
sion project included the transformation of a non-branded
facility, Casino Windsor, to a branded property – Caesars,
the best-known gaming brand in the world,” Wayow says.
Unique Features
OLG invested millions for Caesars’ rebranding, to ensure
the correct sense of luxury and premium accommodations
were incorporated into the existing property and the expan-
sion. The resort offers elegant accommodations; fine dining,
featuring an array of cuisines; world-class gaming with an
expanded selection of table games; world-renowned enter-
tainment; and attentive service.
One of the most unique – and difficult to construct –
features of the expansion was the hotel’s lobby. The 30,000-
square-foot lobby forms a skybridge over five lanes of traf-

170 ■ WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM ■ FEBRUARY 2009