Rush Street Gaming has been hard at work on the Rivers Casino project in Schenectady, offering a tour of the facility yesterday to officials of the New York State Gaming Commission, to show just how much progress has been made. Members of the Commission seemed quite impressed with how much has been done by the gaming operator with the $330 million gaming facility thus far.

The Rivers Casino has a price tag of $330 million and is part of a mixed-use development along the harbor at the former site of Alco. On Monday, John Poklemba and fellow officials toured the area, with Poklemba commenting in the Times Union that what the Commission has heard about the venue has been promising but the group wanted to see for themselves how the project has progressed.

A news conference was held during the tour and just before the conference took place, the CEO of Rush Street Gaming, Greg Carlin, reported that the casino may open as soon as February. The project has been set to open in early 2017 but with no set month having been announced. Apparently, the project is ahead according to the construction schedule and the progress is going well, largely in part due to a mild winter, allowing construction to continue.

This October, the venue will begin to train dealers, according to the Rivers Casino & Resort at Mohawk Harbor General Manager, Mary Cheeks. Ms. Cheeks stated that the strategy of the casino is to train as many people as possible and then start the hiring process from the training pool. As many as 120 individuals could be hired for the facility.

As far as the casino facility is concerned, there will be a gambling hall consisting of 50,000 square feet that will house 1,150 slot games and 66 table games. The main facility will be home to a restaurant with light dining, a steakhouse, entertainment lounge area, banquet hall and spa. For guests who wish to stay the night, there will be a hotel offering 150 guest rooms connected to the casino. A parking garage will also be located at the casino.

Additional construction at the harbor will include another hotel, apartments and condos along with office space and retail stores. A coffee shop and bank were just approved last week by the Planning Commission.