Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/354800
Grey Eagle Resort & Casino by Robin Brunet NORR LIMITED T he $65-million expansion of the Tsuu T'ina Nation's Grey Eagle Casino in Calgary has created a hotel with banquet and conference facilities plus a major entertainment and event centre – all of which provide unsurpassed views of Calgary to the northeast and the Rocky mountains to the southwest. The expansion of the casino, the renovations and the devel- opment of the hotel and event centre, along with the resulting infrastructure changes, are the latest achievements for project manager and developer Sonco Group Inc. Sonco also developed the original casino, which opened over seven years ago; through associated companies, it man- ages the Grey Eagle facilities and employs 500 people. The casino to date has generated revenue that has funded impor- tant endeavours, including a housing program for Tsuu T'ina as well as education scholarships. As with any casino project, the gestation period for the Grey Eagle upgrades was lengthy; moreover, it was capped by an ambitious construction schedule. "The casino expansion had to open in May of 2013, followed by the event centre in January 2014 and the hotel four months after that," says Kent Walker, construction manager for Marco Group. In 2012, the Tsuu T'ina announced a plan to expand the casino by 9,300 square feet, construct a hotel with 178 rooms plus 8,900 square feet of con- ference and banquet facilities, and add 450 parking spaces to accommodate guests to a new 2,400-seat event centre, the main hall of which would be 49,900 square feet in size. The hotel would be linked to the casino by an enclosed corridor. The Tsuu T'ina Nation had considered a gaming centre as early as 1996 but encountered several challenges, including regaining and clearing the land (which was being used by Can- ada's Department of National Defence); the designation pro- cess to permit the lands to be leased to a First Nation com- pany; and the creation of collateral assets to permit conventional financ- ing. Sonco assisted throughout and ini- tiated the licensing process with the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission. Ground broke on the $40-million, 84,000-square-foot casino in September of 2006, and the facility was open to the public in December 2007. David Northcote, principal of NORR Architects Engineers Planners, says, "The concept stage for the hotel and event cen- tre began long before I came on board in November of 2009, and we were still in the final design stage in June of 2012. This gestation period was necessary because the develop- ers needed proof that the Nation would get a return on its investment." Despite the fine-tuning of the designs, Northcote says the final version "was fairly close to the original concept. Purely from an architectural viewpoint, we were challenged to give the buildings their own individual presence even though they were linked together. We also wanted to take full advantage of the magnificent views." The hotel's exterior saw-tooth shape was comprised of alternating solid wall and open window panels forming the two sides of each tooth. "That's a typical example of an early design idea that survived the refinements, and it not only provides guests with a focused view of the Rockies on the southeast side and of downtown on the northeast side, it's the antithesis of the traditional box-like appearance of casino hotels," says Northcote. Precast exterior walls for the hotel were chosen to create the solid elements and a unique building profile visible from a nearby arterial roadway, as well as to accelerate the construc- tion schedule. For the casino expansion and event centre, a stucco and insulation cladding system matching the existing COURTESY SONCO GROUP INC. COURTESY SONCO GROUP INC. AUGUST 2014 /91 Grey Eagle Resort & Casino