MT. PLEASANT, Mich. — Seven Indian casinos in Michigan, which closed voluntarily, are reopening as early as Friday.
And with the safety precautions in place, you can bet that it's going to look a different inside.
"It's going to be reopening with new things in place," said Mike Bean, the CEO of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe's gaming enterprises.
"All of this has been a process, it is almost like we are opening the casino brand new for the first time," added Jim Wise, Vice President of Marketing Fire Keepers Casino.
Social distancing will be implemented throughout the gaming room.
Every other slot machine will be off and plexiglas will be installed to create barriers at high touch point areas.
"You will see it at our cage, in our players club, between the dealers and the players," said Bean.
The number of guests at each table will also be limited, with chips sanitized and cards replaced frequently.
We also going to have a cleaning team ambassador crew that will be roaming the entire casino floor," explained Wise.
"We are excited and we look forward to it and we are doing it in a way that we think is responsible," said Bean.
The Detroit casinos will remain closed for the duration of the Governor's "Safer At Home" order.
But because these tribal casinos are not under the jurisdiction of state government, they are able to reopen three weeks before the order is lifted.
"We were not going to reopen without appropriate measures in place so that lead us to this timing," said Bean.
Masks will be required for both staff and guests at all times. Smoking is not allowed inside and temperature checks will be required at all entrance points.
Some people may perceive these as rigid rules, but if you have to wear a mask and you can't smoke. And hopefully we can lift some of these rules as time goes on," said Wise.
Both Fire keepers and Soaring Eagle open Monday to the public.
But staff say it's hard to predict the turnout.
"We really don't know we have folks that are certainly are cautious and we have folks that I am sure have a great deal of cabin fever and so the extent of which one overrides the other is anyone's guess," said Bean.
A slot calculator will be available on FireKeepers’s website to show how many games are being played at that time.
Guests are encouraged to check the calculator before visiting to see how many people are on the floor.
Not all amenities will reopen at the casino and hotel.
Coat check, buffets, beverage stations and valet parking are just a few that are closed for now, with plans to start up on a later date.
Soaring Eagle's water park is also set to reopen Friday, at 75% capacity.
Staff say they will continuously sanitize all communal areas.
The water park plans to use a Ultra Violet Water treatment to kills viruses in water.
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