Northern Lights Casino in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, has completed the first phase of its expansion and begun work on the next stage of the project.
The casino reopened its renovated gaming floor and main entrance on Thursday, August 20, followed by the expanded smoking room on Friday. A soft opening took place over the weekend, with a magician, DJ, food and drinks marking the completion of the first stage.
Acting General Manager Denzel Smith said patrons had responded positively to the changes.
“Some of the comments from the patrons when they’re walking into the casino, they feel like they’re in Vegas. Like it’s almost like a whole other world here at Northern Lights Casino.”
Smoking Room Gets Major Upgrade
The smoking room received the largest overhaul during Phase 1. Workers demolished the previous interior and replaced it with a larger space that accommodates more gaming machines and includes a new air-handling system.
The number of machines has increased from 223 to 275.
“We had 223 machines and now we’re up to 275 machines in our new smoke room with a lot of extra wiggle room. We have a whole new air handling unit in there as well. It’s a much better ventilation system than the one we had before.”
The renovated area provides additional space for customers while improving ventilation compared with the previous facility.
Phase 2 will extend the work across other parts of the casino. Renovations will continue on the gaming floor, while the recently expanded smoking room will become larger again.
“They’re going to work on the old smoke room and the old area of the casino where live games were,” Smith explained, as reported by paNOW. “We’re going to have another expansion of the current new smoke room to make it even larger, and then on the other part of our gaming floor, we’re going to have a new bar/deli combo that’s going to be going in there as well.”
The plans will also transform the former live-games area with a new bar and deli combination.
Expansion Continues After October 2024 Groundbreaking
Northern Lights Casino announced the expansion on August 28, 2024, before construction started on October 15.
The renovation has allowed the casino to continue its regular operations for most of the construction period. Casino employees were not laid off as a result of the project, although major construction work occasionally affected operations.
Northern Lights Casino opened in 1996, while its previous major renovation took place in 2011.
The wider project has three planned phases. The casino has yet to announce how long Phase 2 will take or when the third and final stage will begin.
For now, the completed first phase has reopened several renovated areas while the next stage prepares additional changes to the property. The planned work will bring further alterations to the gaming floor, expand the new smoking room and add food service space.
The project marks the latest major redevelopment of the Prince Albert casino since its 2011 renovation.