Off-Strip Ellis Island in Vegas Expanding Casino Floor

Posted on: April 10, 2024, 12:36h. 

Last updated on: April 11, 2024, 10:17h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

Ellis Island, a family-owned casino resort located a block east of the Las Vegas Strip, is expanding its casino footprint. The expansion will add 6,415 square feet, according to Clark County planning documents, including a new sportsbook and back-of-house area.

The name Ellis Island plays on both the former immigrant processing station in New York and the name of the family who owns the casino resort. (Image: Ellis Island)

“This renovation gives us the opportunity to create an elevated gaming and entertainment experience while honoring our history and legacy,” Christina Ellis, VP of development for Ellis Island, said in a statement.

Workers level the 2,800-square-foot rooftop space formerly occupied by Ellis Island’s microbrewery. (Image: Scott Roeben/Vital Vegas)

The property is still officially known as the Ellis Island Hotel, Casino & Brewery, though it closed its brewery, which had been operating since 1993, in November 2022 to prepare for the expansion. According to Casino.org’s Vital Vegas blogger Scott Roeben, the brewery was the largest in Nevada at the time.

“Ultimately, the footprint of Ellis Island and its casino is simply too small to host a brewery,” Roeben wrote. “It’s been a charming amenity, but given the limited space, it’s a better move to increase the size of the casino floor and add a new restaurant.”

The construction is expected to take at least eight more months.

Ellis Island was opened in 1967 by Frank Ellis as The Village Pub. The Ellis family, which still owns the Silver Reef Brewing Company in Utah, changed the name of its Vegas casino in 1985 when about a dozen Village Pubs popped up around Las Vegas.

In 1997, Ellis Island finished its first renovation and expansion, a $12 million project that doubled its slot machine count to 410, and introduced table games by adding six blackjack stations.

In 2014, Ellis Island added a hotel by annexing an adjacent Super 8, whose rooms were renovated in 2018.

Ellis Island is owned by Gary Ellis, Frank’s son, along with his wife, Cindy. Christina is their daughter. Her sister, Annamarie Ellis, is VP of Operations. And their sister, Michaela Ellis, heads up HR.