The new $250 Million, 44-acre Morongo Casino, Resort and Spa will offer a diverse range of entertainment, lodging, meeting facilities and retail services. The 23-story hotel will have approxiamately 310 rooms. The new hotel/casino, projected to occupy 659,800 square feet, will include a lounge, buffet, cafe, nighclub, steak house and other restaurants. Designed by the internationally renowned architectural firm of The Jerde Partnership, the project is currently being built by Perini Building Corporation. The Morongo resort is slated for completion in late 2004.

"It Pays to Play" is the slogan for Casino Morongo located on the Morongo Indian reservation near Cabazon. The success of the casino over the past few years prompted the Morongo Band of Mission Indians to begin construction of a new $250 million, world-class destination resort hotel and spa.

Perini Building Company hit the jackpot when it was awarded the contract to build what will become one of the largest recreational gaming destinations on the West Coast. The site, which is adjacent to the current facility, is located on a 44-acre parcel.

"The Morongo tribe's goal," according to Maurice Lyons, Morongo tribal chairman, "was to create a world-class resort that would offer visitors a high-quality experience and a full range of entertainment and recreational options to be enjoyed by the entire family."

Lyons also explained that the design by internationally-renown architect Jon Jerde from The Jerde Partnership "will bring a piece of paradise to the desert, creating a concept that is both beautiful and unique."

Perini's project manager Tony Meyer reports that the project that started in June 2003 is on schedule for completion by late October. "We're building a 658,000 square foot 25-story hotel tower with a two-story penthouse restaurant and lounge that will have panoramic views of the nearby mountain ranges and desert floor. The complex will also house the casino, spa and additional restaurants.

"Adjacent to the new casino will be the pool oasis with a beach entry, lazy river, Jacuzzis, private cabanas, pool bar and six private luxury casitas all set in extensive landscaping," Meyer stated. "And for parking, the project includes 1,500 spaces of landscaped surface parking and an attached 1,700 space parking garage.

"The project began with the moving of approximately 350,000 yards of soil for the preparation of the site for building," Meyer added. "This work was completed by Cattrac Construction with the use of scrapers and dozers. At present, there are about 1,000 craftsperson's on site working on enclosing the building and starting the installation of finishes."

Perini utilized one tower crane for most of the work on the hotel tower, which reached a final hook height of 330-feet. Access up and down the hotel tower was accomplished by a dual cage material/man lift. The low-rise structural steel was erected with crawler cranes and hydro cranes. Other equipment utilized by the trades during the completion of the project will include track hoes, backhoes, forklifts, scissor lifts, boom lifts, compressors and welders.

Meyer indicated that one of the biggest challenges of the Morongo Casino, Resort and Spa project has been that it's a fast track contract. "We've had to work very closely with the design team to insure that the construction drawings were in line with our construction schedule." Thalden-Boyd Architects is the executive architect with The Jerde Partnership serving as design architect. S & J Enterprise is the owner's representative for the Morongo Tribe.

(Left) Breaking ground at Morongo - Morongo planning director Tom Linto, former State Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, County Supervisor Marion Ashely Robert Martin, State Senator Jim Battin, tribal council member Mary Ann Andreas, Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, Morongo Tribal ChairmanMaurice Lyons, Governor Gray Davis, Tribal Vice Chairman Luanne Martin, Tribal Council Members Damon Sandoval and Anne Hutton, Congressman Joe Baca andguest all joined last May with silver-plated shovels to celebrate the historic groundbreaking at Morongo.

(Right) Morongo Tribal Chairman Maurice Lyons and his Tribal Council are overseeing the new $250 million project which is the largest in the region's history.

"We've worked with the owner's representative and both the architects before," Meyer said, setting the momentum for a seamless project. We've also had some problems with wind but we've been able to adjust our shifts to work during times when the wind isn't so bad."

Meyer noted that Jerde's design concept for the hotel/casino uses the forces of nature as design inspiration. "Probably the most unique part about this project is the design concept that in general is very free flowing with a lot of curves and very few straight walls. The main porte cochere is essentially a large piece of artwork.

"It's a 40-foot high by 100-foot diameter flower petal created out of self-supporting structural steel," Meyer added. "It's going to be illuminated and partially covered with fabric and makes quite a centerpiece for the main entrance."

"I wanted to create a design for Morongo," Jon Jerde, founder and chairman of The Jerde Partnership, stated, "that celebrates the transition from the desert into a cool oasis. Virtually all of the landscaping will be drought tolerant and reflecting the oasis concept, the landscaping will become greener and more intense as you travel closer to the building."

New roads will also be part of the infrastructure associated with the project along with an extension of the tribe's own water system, natural gas and electricity connections, and hookups to a wastewater facility already operating on the reservation.

Tom Linton, Morongo's planning director, explained, "the tribe is funding all of the infrastructure costs associated with construction of the project including the road extensions." Linton and the tribal council are working closely with county and state governmental agencies to ensure easy-to-navigate freeway and road access as well as smooth traffic flow.

The transition zone around the 44-acre project extends from the adjacent Interstate 10 freeway across the site to the casino/hotel entry, at which point the transformation zone begins.

"The transformation zone occurs within the casino resort hotel building," Jerde said. "The interior dŽcor and dramatic lighting of the casino area and throughout the complex will represent nature as the force of transformation. The oasis zone will be a protected environment where guests can view the severe beauty of the mountain desert and enjoy the surroundings of a lushly planted pool area."

The economic impact of the new complex is expected to be substantial with economists estimating that between now and the end of 2008, the resort and casino will result in a $2.8 billion impact. Dr. John Husing revealed, "This includes the creation of more than 4,000 new jobs and $1.4 billion in new goods and services purchased."

Casino Morongo is located off Interstate 10 approximately 90 minutes east of Los Angeles and just west of Palm Springs. The Morongo tribe began using gaming as a means of economic development in 1983. For additional details about the facility, visit www.casinomorongo.com.

(Above) Perini utilized one tower crane for most of the work on the hotel tower, which reached a final hook height of 330-feet. Access up and down the hotel tower was accomplished by a dual cage material/man lift. The low-rise structural steel was erected with crawler cranes and hydro cranes.

Perini Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Perini Corporation (AMEX:PCR). Professional services include general contracting, construction management, and design-build. Perini Building Company has seven offices throughout the United States and one in Mexico. Perini is one of the largest builders of resorts and casinos in the country and is the nation's leading builder of Native American hospitality projects. Other areas of construction expertise are multi-purpose sports facilities, education, prisons, and assisted living facilities. For more information, visit www.perini.com.