Turning Stone Resort n Verona New York completed its $400 million expansion in September by opening a new convention space that makes the casino the largest convention in terms of meeting space in the state.
It’s event space now sits at 225,000 square feet, which includes a 30,000-square-foot Grand Ballroom, nine meeting and breakout rooms, two rooms with private outdoor patios and a 24,000-square-foot landscaped courtyard that could hold more than 4,000 guests.
Last year the casino hosted more than 1,500 events, a number that will double with more pace, according to casino officials.
“This is absolutely going to expand tourism for us as we look ahead,” said Director of sales and conference services, Sarah Just. “We’re going to be bringing thousands of different guests from all over the world to here to our resort for a variety of different purposes.”
Called the Grand Expo, it’s connected directly to the resort’s newest hotel, The Crescent, a 258-room expansion that opened in July. The resort now has four hotels with a combined 1,046 guest rooms, 26 restaurants, two spas and five golf courses, in addition to casino gaming, entertainment and nightlife.
“A lot of our focus during the week is to help grow and bring people from a national basis, national conventions, national associations to our area, which is fantastic. And then also weekends, those are really our weddings, our galas, our social functions,” said Just.
Turning Stone was opened by the Oneida Indian Nation 33 years ago. This year, the casino will pass the watermark of contributing more than $1 billion to the state, said Joel Barkin, the vice president for strategic communications and community engagement at Turning Stone.
“This was really an investment by the Oneida Indian Nation in the long-term future of this region,” he told Spectrum Local New.
