17 months ago, he saw a fancy riverboat floating next to an ugly barge with a few trailers on it .
He knew the exterior had to disappear. So he went to the board and asked them to build $6 million on the barge, move its corporate and education offices, build a new restaurant, and make the landscape more attractive. The board hesitated to him. “I whined like a baby and said, ‘Give me money,’” Aviles teased.
They kept the project going. The referendum was easily passed in November 2002. Now Argosi Casino Sioux City is ready to officially open a new add-on program and start a week of celebrations. The 22,000-square-foot barge will house a new restaurant, party room, guest service, and court check, as well as the casino’s corporate office and training area. The entire project is about 95 percent complete. Office space, training space, and staff lounge will be completed within this month.
“I’m sitting here, and I think it’s great,” Aviles said over a cup of coffee at the restaurant. “We’ve made our employees more comfortable and our customers more comfortable.” The total cost of the project is expected to be more than $6 million, Aviles said. When the project began in May, unexpected costs were rocks on the bank that slid down the barge. The company spent $100,000 dredging beneath the barge before construction began. 릴게임