Ellis Island Expansion Renderings Revealed Via Employee Break Room

By Scott Roeben, on October 23 2024
3 min read 1 comment
Las Vegas Las Vegas Casinos

Ellis Island is in the middle of an expansion and renderings are finally in the wild.

Infuriatingly, we didn’t get our hands on the renderings first.

The story’s still pretty good, though, so here we go.

This answers the question, “What’s the least Ellis Island thing Ellis Island could do to Ellis Island?”

We love Ellis Island and play there several times a week despite the road rage involved in trying to get there. Thanks, F1.

We know the owners and management, so assumed they’d be passing along the expansion renderings to us first, mostly because we’re the media outlet that cares the most about this expansion, by far.

After months of promises and stonewalling, our friend @LasVegasLocally shared the expansion plans on Twitter.

After we cleaned up our work area from our head exploding, we did some digging and learned the images in question were photos of the renderings on display in the employee break room at Ellis Island. An employee snapped the pics and sent them to Locally, a relatively low tech way of releasing renderings.

Yes, there will occasionally be sports on the screen. Nowhere is perfect.

Anyway, the journalistic geniuses at the Las Vegas Review-Journal saw the renderings on Twitter and reached out to Ellis Island. They then got the “official” renderings and “broke” the story without attribution to Las Vegas Locally, of course. This is actually editorial policy at the Review-Journal, from what we’ve been told. Steal the work of others, confirm the story and don’t mention where the story originated. We have been the victim of this same dipshittery dozens if not hundreds of times. It’s gross.

The wonky way in which the renderings were released has dampened our excitement about the expansion a bit, but here’s another look at what’s to come.

Because nobody at the Review-Journal has ever actually played at Ellis Island, they didn’t mention the expansion is in the former brewery space. The casino closed its on-site brewery in 2022.

This modern interior design might be off-putting to some Ellis Island regulars, which is a good thing. The other night, a vagrant stole a bottle of beer from the casino’s main bar and made a run for it. Just saying.

The Review-Journal did, however, include in its expansion story the fact Ellis Island is suing F1, presumably implying, “How can Ellis Island afford a $35 million renovation if they lost so much money?” This is the kind of imbecilic logic our “paper of record” foists on its dozens of subscribers in the retirement community of Sun City every single day.

This is also the “paper of record” Ellis Island decided was more widely read and influential than a blog with a history of support and free advertising for more than a decade.

Bygones!

There’s going to be an adjustment period.

Along with a new bar (the current center bar is going away, which is awesome, because it smells like sewage sludge from a livestock farm), the expansion includes a rooftop lounge.

This patio will overlook the Battlebots tent, two power poles that serve as a Tupac memorial and drivers giving the finger to F1 construction workers.

The casino expansion will mean more room for slots, and the plan is for Ellis Island to increase its offerings by 250 machines.

Prior to that, would it be too much to ask to fix the “Deal/Draw” button on our favorite video poker machine from 1975?

While we are obligated to give Ellis Island shit for screwing us over on the expansion renderings, we can’t help but love the place. The table minimums are the lowest you’ll find close to The Strip, the staff is friendlier than any other casino on or near The Strip, the BBQ and sandwich places are great and the comps are generous for your play.

Ellis Island is family-owned, so it’s not slick or sophisticated, but it’s real and one’s business feels genuinely appreciated.

We’ve heard rumblings of a steakhouse in the works, which is badly needed, but nothing’s been announced officially, and we’re not sure where it would go.

One final note to casino employees: If you get scoop, please send it to us first. Our gambling pays your salary, for your child’s college education and orthodontia, for your lavish trips to Cabo, your mani/pedis and for casino expansions, from which everyone benefits.

You aren’t violating confidentiality, THEY PUT THE RENDERINGS UP IN THE BREAK ROOM.

Note: That was the first time in more than 3,000 stories we used all caps.

Anyway, exciting things are in the works at Ellis Island. You’d know that if you could get there. Thanks a lot, F1.