Sky River Casino opened in Elk Grove

Sky River Casino, a $500 million complex run by Boyd Gaming and built on land owned by the local Wilton Lanceria, is now open in Elk Grove. These are the first Indian casinos in Sacramento County. Casino employees made a surprise announcement about their soft opening on Facebook after midnight on Aug. 16. A post featuring a photo of an active slot machine reads, "PSst… You up? We're open." Sky River officials announced last month that it will open in September. Hannah Baumann, a spokeswoman for Cinch PR, the casino's public relations company, told Citizen that casino officials decided to open it to the public in the late evening on Aug. 15. They still plan to hold a grand public event in mid-September, she added. Sky River is located on a 36 acre site along highway 99 south of elk grove, with the main entrance at the corner of the promenade and sky river parkway. The casino is also adjacent to the Sterling Meadows area under development. We plan to operate the casino 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The casino's 110,200 sq ft gaming floor has 2,000 slot machines, 80 gaming tables and 17 planned restaurants and bars. Hundreds of people gathered at the casino by noon on the opening day. A long line of cars stretched across several blocks of the Parkway, a trail running from the site's main entrance to Highway 99. Ground was breached on the casino site and the name Skyriver was introduced in March 2021, a facility that opened months ahead of schedule this summer. "That's what you get when you get a good partner with Boyd Gaming," said Wilton Lanceria president Jesus Tarango on Aug. 15 about fast construction. "They've been in the game; they know how to do it." Sky River was built on the former site of "Ghost Mall," a partially built outlet collection in elk grove mall that was abandoned for 11 years before it was demolished in 2019 after Boyd Gaming purchased the land. Chris Gibase, Sky River's chief operating officer, said that when the casino opens, just under 2,000 employees will work there. "Our training is complete, and we've deployed everyone," he said. The Citizen toured Sky River the day before the casino's soft opening as part of a press preview. Journalists were not allowed to interview customers at the casino during the opening day. The casino's gaming floor was filled with thousands of active slot machines. Some restaurants, such as high-end SR steakhouses, set up tables. While construction workers put the finishing touches on places like game grounds, some of the game floor workers were trained. Some of the interior decorations were influenced by local natural images, including a glass chandelier shaped like an acorn and a jagged ceiling pattern based on the dry riverbed of the Cossomnes River, explained tour guide Ronnie Phillips.