Absher Construction Company and Kitchell Contractors worked in a joint-venture partnership—rooted in decades of experience together—to build the new Emerald Queen Casino for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. This stunning new Las Vegas-style casino and entertainment mecca in Tacoma, Washington, is easily visible from Interstate 5. It features a 200,000 SF casino with 110,000 SF gaming floor and 2,133 slot machines; five (5) restaurants, including a buffet, coffee shop, fine dining restaurant, a sports bar/lounge and deli; and a 31,000 SF events center for concerts and other entertainment with 1,700 to 2,500 seats depending on the event. The project also includes a 450,000 SF, 563-stall parking garage; as well as administrative, I.T. and facility support departments.

  1. A Local Tacoma Construction Staffing Agency. Since the early 1990’s, Tradesmen International has been recognized as a national leader for reliable, skilled craftsmen and construction labor. With a dedicated staff and office in Tacoma, we’re committed to making an impact across the state.
  2. The original Emerald Queen Casino was a Mississippi riverboat casino that was purchased by the Puyallup Tribe in 1996 and brought to the port of Tacoma. In 2002 the tribe built a bingo hall at the present location of the Emerald Queen Casino. It opened on July 13, 2002.

Emerald Queen Casino Construction

Emerald Queen Casino Construction

Come December 2019, a new casino with all the bling of Las Vegas will open along Interstate 5. That’s the assessment of the Puyallup Tribe as it builds its new $370 million Emerald Queen Casino.

Native American participation was a primary goal on this project. AbsherKitchell worked closely with the Tribal Employee Rights Office and exceeded all TERO goals–employing an average of 40 tribal workers each month, for a total of nearly 250,000 total hours worked.

Emerald Queen Casino Tacoma Construction

It’s estimated that the new Emerald Queen Casino and operations will add $1.5 billion to the local economy over the next decade and will create a multitude of competitive-wage new jobs to the local workforce, both Native and non-Native.

Building people who build great things.

This project required a MEP coordination period of over six months of close coordination with all overhead trades, as well as the wall and raised floor contractors. While the overall project was about 27 months long, construction began shortly after the BIM process started, which required very tight just-in-time BIM deliverables.

The project includes a casino floor at over 300,000 square feet over two separate parking garages. One existing at 3 levels, and the other at 4 levels. As a Design Assist partner, Apollo was tasked with working with the mechanical/plumbing engineer and general contractor on developing best practices to install the mechanical and plumbing systems in this large casino.

There are 44 separate air handling systems, with 62 split systems. The HVAC involves extensive overhead distribution with ductwork as large as 86″ round, with duct drops at columns and walls that provides air to a pressurized underfloor distribution system with over 4300 floor grilles.

Queen

There are multiple kitchen/dining areas ranging from bars and 24 hour dining facilities to a buffet and high end restaurants, all topped off with an event center with an exposed overhead duct distribution system and enclosed under stage return system.

The project also includes an atrium smoke control system utilizing underground duct, and an overhead duct distribution system.

The plumbing portion of this project includes an extensive plumbing rack distribution system feeding the kitchen areas, and large bathroom groups involving over 150 toilet fixtures. An underground fin tube system heats the atrium. Project included a grease waste system collecting at two separate grease waste interceptors and includes an extensive heat trace network.