Best of 2005 Awards

Turning Stone Resort & Casino Tower Hotel

Award of Merit: Hospitality

The Oneida Indian Nation completed another $100 million in projects in May at its Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y., as part of a multiphase, $308 million expansion started in 2003.

This year's projects included a new 20-story hotel, 5,000-seat event center, and 22,000-sq.-ft. Winter Garden linking the new structures with the existing casino and a hotel completed in 2004.

The jury recognized how the work completed this year represents a milestone in Turning Stone's master plan to attract guests who normally wouldn't visit a casino, and to lengthen their stay.

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"They are really intending to create this as a destination," one juror said.

The event center is a key element, already boasting various concerts, sporting events, and trade shows. The hockey rink-sized center has retractable seating to maximize flexibility, said Mario LaGuardia, senior partner at Brennan Beer Gorman Architects of New York, lead designer on the project. The center footprint is 100,000 sq. ft., with 33,000 sq. ft. in the arena and other space for meeting rooms and back-of-house facilities.

To support visitors expected at the center, the new hotel adds 287 rooms and suites, many of which feature views of the surrounding valley, the Catskill Mountains, and one of New York's Finger Lakes. LaGuardia said the hotel's single-loaded corridor design, with rooms on one side of the hall, allows for additional height, making the tower visible from the nearby New York State Thruway.

Each floor has a maximum of 20 rooms on a footprint of 11,000 sq. ft., which eschews the traditional long hotel corridors of Las Vegas. None of the rooms are more than 50 ft. from the elevator. A private club and restaurant on the top floor caters to high-rent customers.

The Winter Garden adds additional spectacle as a multiuse structure that streamlines guest arrival and acts as the "heart" of the complex. The lush space has a 27-ft.-high ceiling, fritted glass façade, and skylights. The light-filled interior has trees, stone walls, waterfalls, a landscaped garden, and two restaurants.

"They really went out of their way to make that a first-class casino and hotel," a juror said.

LaGuardia said construction of the new features was on a two-year fast track under a guaranteed maximum price contract. The schedule was significant for the construction team, which had to finish concrete and exterior wall work by the end of fall so the project wouldn't slow down through the cold and harsh winter.

Parts of the program completed prior to this year include two golf courses, a bingo facility expansion, a 2,400-space parking garage, and infrastructure improvements. The expansion will be complete when a luxury spa opens next year. <<

Key Players

Owner: Oneida Indian Nation

General Contractor: Hunt Construction

Architect/Interior Designer: Brennan Beer Gorman Architects; Brennan Beer Gorman Monk Interiors (BBG-BBGM)

Structural Engineer: DeSimone Consulting Engineers

M-E-P Engineer: Edwards & Zuck

Site Planning/Landscape Architect: Edward D. Stone Jr. Associates

Lighting Design: Selles Lighting Design

Civil Engineer: Langan Engineering