Boyd Confirms Fremont Casino Construction, $50 Million Renovation

By Scott Roeben, on February 10 2022
2 min read 2 comments
Downtown Las Vegas Las Vegas Las Vegas Casinos Las Vegas Hotels

We’ve been sharing construction photos at Fremont casino for months, but Boyd Gaming has been mum about what’s happening.

Until now.

During a recent earnings call, Boyd finally acknowledged construction is taking place, part of a $50 million investment in a renovation and expansion of the downtown casino.

Here’s a look at some of the top secret construction everyone already knew about.

The reasons for the cone of silence about the Fremont renovations are unknown, but we have theories.

One, Boyd is a public company, so they have to be careful about what they say and when.

Two, the rumor is they’re over budget by $15 millionish. Not really something the company would be thrilled to talk about.

Three, Boyd probably doesn’t want customers to bail on room bookings if they think there’s construction going on.

Construction is, however, undeniably going on, including a new coat of paint for the Fremont hotel’s exterior.

The paint job is a throwback to the early days of the Fremont casino. See more.

While Boyd talked about the Fremont renovations during its earnings call, they were still light on details.

The upgrade will include new restaurants, as well as an expansion of the casino floor.

No word on what’s happening with the rooms, and no mention of a new hotel tower, but we can wait.

We poked around at Fremont and learned the hotel will be getting a new food court. Or perhaps food hall, the fancy way of saying food court.

The casino is expanding into the former buffet area. The entrance to the former buffet was between the two restrooms in the photo below.

The Fremont buffet isn’t coming back, sorry.

There’s a flurry of activity going on behind that purple construction wall. We deeply resent the fact casinos now put up floor-to-ceiling construction walls, as this prevents our peeking over with our camera to see what’s up. Rude.

If you don’t remember Fremont’s Paradise Buffet, here’s a pic for old time’s sake.

In Las Vegas, food courts are the new buffets.

If they didn’t check out the Downtown Grand-facing side of Fremont casino, the typical casino guest would have no idea a renovation is even taking place. Casinos are really good at doing work on the down-low, or whatever word people are using instead of “down-low” now.

We still think a new hotel tower is in the works for Fremont. Earlier plans, reported back in 2018, called for a 509-room tower in the space between the existing hotel and Pizza Rock, at Third and Ogden.

There was also mention of a new bar, as well as a new sports book.

We suspect those changes are coming, but Boyd has yet to confirm.

The renovations at Fremont casino are expected to be completed by early 2023. Which is a year away. Which is weird. But, hey, refreshed is refreshed, and Fremont could use a little sprucing up, so it’ll be worth the wait.