SIOUX CITY | Nearly 1 million people have walked through the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City since it opened on Aug. 1, according to state regulators.
Visitors from around the United States and even some other nations have been drawn to the downtown entertainment mecca, which features a 60-foot-tall replica of an electric guitar perched on top of one of the city's landmark buildings.
On many weekends, it's tough to find parking in the 800-plus space lots, as guests fill the gaming floor. Tickets to concerts and other shows often sell out, and the 54-room hotel is booked sold on many nights.
"It's meeting all expectations," Hard Rock General Manager Todd Moyer said of the venue's performance. "It's doing fantastically."
In the first seven months, Woodbury County's first state-licensed, land-based casino has collected about $37 million in gaming revenues, while paying out $6.6 million in jackpots to betters.
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The gaming revenues are in the ballpark with the casino's original projections. Non-gaming revenues, everything from food and beverages to sales of Hard Rock t-shirts, have exceeded expectations, Moyer said.
The Hard Rock offers three restaurants with different themes and menu options, and three bars -- two off the gaming floor and another at the hotel's front desk.
Move from water to land
The multiple non-gaming amenities were a major selling point for Missouri River Historical Development, the local nonprofit group that partnered with the Hard Rock's Las Vegas-based developer, SCE Partners.
In April 2013, the Hard Rock group beat out three other applicants for a license from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to open the first, state-regulated land-based casino in Woodbury County. The Hard Rock replaced a riverboat casino that had operated on the Missouri River since 1993.
Construction on the $129 million Hard Rock project -- one of the largest capital investments in Sioux City history -- began late that summer. More than 800 workers from various building trades were deployed at the site, bound by Third, Water, Pearl and Fourth streets.
A centerpiece of the work was extensive renovation of the historic Battery Building, a four-story warehouse built in 1906. Listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, the Romanesque revival-style brick warehouse is known for such details as a six-story clock tower, rooftop battlements and large arched doorways and windows.
The east side of the Battery Building was connected to a new 58,000-square-foot structure that houses the casino floor, a quick-serve restaurant, Fuel American Grill, a live entertainment venue and bar, called Anthem, and another bar, known as The Yards.
Anthem, The Yards and Fuel American Grill are open only to customers of legal gambling age, 21 or older. Visitors of all ages may enter the Rock Shop, which offers a variety of Hard Rock merchandise, and two restaurants -- the World Tour Buffet and Main + Abbey -- on the first floor of the Battery Building,
The buffet features cuisine from around the globe, and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As many as 1,000 guests go through the buffet line per day on weekends, Moyer said.
The buffet's Chef de Cuisine, Roderick Johnson, has cooking skills influenced by classic French cuisine with a southern twist. He grew up working in a family owned restaurant where his grandfather taught him how to cook, and has years of experience cooking for restaurants on the Las Vegas strip, including the Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas.
At the Hard Rock Sioux City, Johnson started out as Chef de Cuisine for Main + Abbey, a position Keith Wittrock now holds. Wittrock has two decades of restaurant experience in multiple luxury restaurants in the Midwest, most recently as executive chef at the former Eldon's Restaurant in Sioux City.
Hard Rock officials have described Main + Abbey as a convergence of Main Street USA and London's Abbey Road. The 100-seat casual dining restaurant serves a variety of comfort foods from burgers to steaks.
“I think we’ve really captured the essence and flavor of a proper London gastropub with Main + Abbey,” said Chris Collelo, Hard Rock's director of food and beverage. “We’re excited to be able to offer Sioux City not only Keith’s great menu, but also a great craft beer selection, in a unique, inviting atmosphere.”
The restaurant offer a private dining room in the base of the Battery's signature six-story clocktower. Guests can marvel at he tower's original giant clock face mounted on the wall.
Warehouse feel retained
Both Main + Abbey and World Tour Buffet retained the Battery Building's original exposed brick walls and massive tongue-and-grove posts and beams.
Exposed wood and brick also is a central element of the decor in all of the hotel rooms on the fourth and fifth floor. The loft-style suites also are boast arched windows that offer scenic views of downtown.
"People walk in their rooms and are just blown away," Moyer said.
The hotel lobby, designed with a 30-foot-tall glass atrium and large chandelier, is located in space where trains once pulled in to unload merchandise for the warehouse's first occupant, a wholesale hardware company.
Stacked high above the hotel's front desk bar are 313 bottles of various top-shelf spirits, with an estimated value of $6,000. Guests can order a drink as they check in.
The hotel lobby is accessed from Third Street, while entrances on Third and Pearl Streets give guests more direct access to the 30,000-square-foot casino floor.
The casino boasts 839 slot machines and 25 table games. The space is covered in purple leopard-patterned carpet accented with blue, gold and brown. Underneath is a state-of-the-art ventilation system that circulates fresh air on the casino floor where smoking is allowed
An oversized guitar, with wood and metal accents, flashes over the floor, which is also illuminated with decorative light fixtures bearing purple drum sticks.
Support beams boast black-and-white images of legendary rock n' roll stars..
Music is ever present throughout the property. Songs from yesterday and today are piped in through the sound system. The walls and glass cases display more than a $1 million worth of memorbilia from a host of legendary artists from Elvis and the Beatles to Katie Perry and Sioux City's own Tommy Bolin.
With access to Hard Rock's vast collection of rock items, the casino regularly rotates its displays.
Seating around 800, the Anthem is one of the nation's smallest venues to showcase nationally-known artists, Moyer said. In the first year, the Hard Rock is scheduled to host 200 dates of live entertainment, which includes music of all genres, from rock and pop to jazz and country, as well as weekly blues and comedy nights.
"Sioux City is really supported of live music," Moyer said. "It's been great to see the turnout for the various shows."
Redesign ahead for outdoor venue
In warm weather months, the Hard Rock hosts concerts and other events in its outdoor venue just north of the Battery Building. Previously known as The Backyard, the space has been renamed Battery Park.
The two-acre, mostly grassy area is scheduled to be paved this spring as part of a plan to create an additional 102 parking spaces on days when there are no outdoor events,
New landscaping, decorative street lamps, and a NASA-designed barrier to control concert noise also is part of a $850,000 project.
The plans include adding an outdoor bar and expanding Main & Abbey's outdoor patio. A entrance also will be added at Fourth and Water streets, eliminating the need for guests to first go through the casino to enter the restaurant.
"Suddenly, you have a new front door to the Hard Rock," Moyer said.
Reconfiguring the Battery Park space will increase seating capacity to around 4,200 for concerts. The space also hosts a number of free events, such as festivals, car shows and movies under the stars.
The Hard Rock is looking to hire 60 to 75 seasonal, part-time employees to support the Battery Park activities this summer.
Overall, the 100,000-square-foot complex currently employs about 500, and is taking applications to fill about 40 additional positions, Moyer said.
All the spending and added tourism generated by the Hard Rock has rippled through the economy, boosting other local businesses, including several within walking distance of the casino.
The Hard Rock's performance also is contributing millions of dollars of revenue for MRHD and the city of Sioux City, which approved $22 million in tax-increment financing for the project.
MRHD signed a long-term deal that guarantees the nonprofit 4.25 percent of the casino revenues. So far, nearly $1.6 million has been paid out to MRHD, which distributes funds to local charities and civic groups.
In the first seven months, the Hard Rock also has paid out $830,000 to the city.
