Main Street Station in downtown Las Vegas has been closed since the onset of COVID-19. More than 500 days later, the casino resort owned and operated by Boyd Gaming is, at long last, unveiling plans to reopen the property.
In a posting on its webpage, Main Street reveals that the casino and hotel will welcome back guests beginning Wednesday, September 8.
“We are excitedly preparing for the re-opening of our property and your return,” the brief statement read.
Boyd Gaming closed the casino on March 17, 2020, on Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s (D) orders. The governor’s original declaration required all casinos in the state to suspend operations for 30 days. However, Sisolak extended the mandatory gaming shutdown for more than two months, eventually allowing gambling to recommence on June 4, 2020.
After 540 days dark, Main Street plans to unlock its doors at 6:00 am on September 8.
Main Street Closure
Boyd Gaming predominantly caters to the locals’ market in Las Vegas. Its properties, including Sam’s Town, Gold Coast, and The Orleans, are known as reprises from the Strip’s glitz and high-minimum tables.
Downtown, however, Boyd relies a bit more on out-of-town visitors than it does in the rest of the Las Vegas Valley. Main Street is one of Boyd Gaming’s three downtown Las Vegas properties, the others being the California Hotel & Casino and Fremont Hotel & Casino. The California is connected to Main Street via a pedestrian bridge that traverses Main Street.
The California reopened on June 4, 2020. Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith said at the time that 19 of the company’s 29 casinos were reopened.
We are optimistic that we will be able to reopen most of our remaining properties by the end of June [2020],” Smith added.
Of course, COVID-19 was not at all inching towards being a thing of the past. Main Street’s actual opening will be more than a year, and another summer, from Smith’s original target.
Hawaii Demographic
The California features a Hawaiian-themed décor. With nearly 800 guestrooms and casino floor spanning some 85,000 square feet, the California is larger than Main Street.
Hawaii greatly restricted incoming and outgoing travel throughout much of the pandemic. As a result, Boyd opted to keep Main Street shuttered, as the Cal was never close to being fully occupied.
As of July 8, visitors to Hawaii can avoid the state’s mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival by providing proof of vaccination. The stipulation applies to Hawaii residents returning after venturing off the islands
Main Street reopening is a major tell that Boyd Gaming execs believe traffic from Hawaii is returning, and will continue to increase.
Visitor volumes to Las Vegas have consistently improved in each month this year. The number of visitors who traveled to Southern Nevada in June totaled almost 13.5 million people. Though that’s down 36 percent from pre-pandemic June 2019, it’s a 39 percent gain on June 2020.
More positive news is that the average number of vehicles in June that drove across I-15 at the Nevada and California border was up 10 percent in June 2019.
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