The developers behind the Norfolk casino project say indoor smoking will be allowed in designated areas of the gaming floor. The group has also pledged to retain free parking for Amtrak train passengers.
Details about the reworked Norfolk casino continue to come to light. The biggest development of late is that the Pamunkey Indian Tribe has attracted Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming to co-develop the resort.
The federally recognized tribe was previously partnered with Tennessee billionaire Jon Yarbrough for a tribal casino about 60 air miles north of Norfolk on sovereign land. After Virginia legalized casinos in five cities in 2020, with Norfolk among the designations, city officials struck a deal with the tribe for it to develop a commercial casino in the Hampton Roads city instead of a tribal undertaking.
Yarbrough has no experience building a casino but instead made his vast wealth through manufacturing gaming machines tailored for tribal venues. Yarbrough recently agreed to sell his 80% stake in the gaming partnership with the Pamunkey Tribe to Boyd.
Resort Details
Last week, the Norfolk City Council signed off on the amended casino agreement to include Boyd and remove Yarbrough. Boyd will now help the tribe raise capital to construct what’s expected to be an investment of more than $500 million to open a casino resort along the Elizabeth River adjacent to the city’s Harbor Park Minor League Baseball stadium.
The casino consortium has agreed to retain free parking for Amtrak customers. The resort’s 1,300-space parking garage will designate a minimum of 103 spaces for Amtrak riders.
During construction, Boyd and the tribe have also committed to providing a shuttle service for ticketed Amtrak passengers from a temporary parking area that’s yet to be determined.
The Norfolk Amtrak station is located just south of Interstate 264 on the eastern edge of the baseball stadium’s parking lot. The casino’s development agreement with the city will see Boyd and the Pamunkey Tribe, operating as Golden Eagle Consulting II, LLC, acquire a little more than eight acres of the city-owned parking lot for $10 million.
The original plan was to purchase 13.5 acres but the resort site shrunk after the federal and state governments announced an infrastructure plan that will include constructing a 17-foot-high seawall along the riverbank. The project will result in reduced land.
Smoking Allowed
Virginia’s 2009 Clean Air Act banned indoor smoking in most workplaces and public settings. But, the statute provides exemptions for parimutuel racetracks and off-track betting parlors. The 2020 commercial gaming law grandfathered casinos into the smoking loophole, too.
As a result, casinos in Virginia can allow smoking anywhere. Boyd reps say smoking will be allowed in the forthcoming Norfolk casino.
We want to create an enjoyable environment for everyone, smokers and nonsmokers,” said Uri Clinton, executive vice president of Boyd Gaming. “Today’s technology allows for that to happen.”
The latest Norfolk casino blueprint suggests utilizing “best-in-class ventilation systems” to keep as much of the secondhand smoke out of supposedly nonsmoking areas. The CDC, however, says the only way to adequately protect casino workers and guests from secondhand smoke is to implement a floorwide smoke-free policy.
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