A week into the Encore Boston Harbor reopening, the state’s eastern casino looks to the future
What lies beyond the pandemic? MassForward is MassLive’s series examining the journey of Massachusetts’ businesses through and beyond the coronavirus pandemic.
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Six feet social distancing, plexiglass and the temporary closure of poker tables. The reopening of Encore Boston Harbor on June 12 is a very different one than the opening just over a year ago on June 23.
Poker, roulette and craps are not available but Brian Gullbrants, Encore Boston Harbor president is working on a solution to open them back up.
“We do have a plan for roulette and crabs,” Gullbrants, who took over as president in Oct. 2019, told MassLive. “We are designing what we believe is a safe environment with plexiglass that we will propose to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in the coming weeks and hope that they’re accepting of those protocols at safety measures that allow it to be safe.”
Plexiglass has been wrapped around a craps table with dividers that will separate each player. Gullbrants said that each table will have two sets of dice and while one set is in play, the other will be washed in a disinfecting solution. And this cycle will continue with the next player and the next.
Boston Encore President Brian Gullbrants is entusiastic about the reopening that took place on July 12. He wants to see how the reopening goes before opening up more of the casino and hotel. With the pandemic still a threat, he told MassLive that the health and safety of the patrons is paramount and would close the doors if he felt too many people were on the casino floor. (Douglas Hook / MassLive)
The team designing the mockup for the eventual demonstration to the MGC has even been looking at making the plexiglass slightly convex so the player, as they throw the dice, doesn’t come into contact with the transparent plastic.
This is still a prototype, however, and those that still want to play the games that are yet to open can still do so on electronic table games that have also been separated by 6-foot-high plexiglass.
In March, the two-level casino had 3,100 slot machines, roughly 2,500 table games and private gaming rooms. After the reopening in July there are 1,900 slot machines, 560 table games and the private rooms are still available.
The new guidelines include rules and recommendations for screening guests, including a requirement to make hand sanitizer available and a suggestion to conduct temperature checks. Social distancing guidelines for slots include a requirement that casinos turn off every other slot machine and remove chairs, and to either ensure a minimum of 6 feet between slot positions or install 6-foot-tall plexiglass dividers.
Director of the Front Office Caitlyn Weller has informed her staff to clean their areas after each interaction with a customer to ensure the maximum safe environment for staff and patrons alike. (Douglas Hook / MassLive)
As patrons walk through the doors of the Encore Boston Harbor, into the grand entrance, they see a series of signs and red cordons placed to dictate the direction they are to take.
Encore installed thermal imaging cameras at its entrances to detect any customer with a temperature over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Anyone with a high temperature would be taken for a secondary screening with a temporal thermometer. Visitors who have a temperature over 100.4 degrees would not be allowed in.
Brian Gullbrants, Encore Boston Harbor president demonstrated on the monitor how effective the infrared camera is. Although one patron had set off the alert once, there have been no other incidents to date. And the visitor's temperature was taken again by a member of staff and turned out to be a false alarm.
No expense has been spared in the redesign of the casino to follow the guidelines, even down to the signs on the floor. The signs on the floor were designed for each area specifically. For example, the coffee shop has a coffee cup-shaped social distancing notices and the casino floor has messages in the shape of a poker chip.
Gullbrants said that he will be keeping an eye on crowding in the casino and will not hesitate to tell the staff to stop visitors from entering if he feels there are too many.
As each customer walks through the door an infrared camera takes their temperatures. If it is about 100 degrees, a staff member will take their temperature with a handheld thermometer. The person, if they are above 100 degrees, will be asked to leave. (Douglas Hook / MassLive)
Wynn Resorts reported a 42.3% decline in revenues for the first quarter of 2020, with operating revenues at $953.7 million. The losses at the company’s properties in China and Las Vegas were partially offset by the Everett casino’s operating revenues, which stood at $140.9 million.
But the resort casino is now losing millions daily after closing to the public on March 15 and agreeing to pay workers through the end of May. In the reopening plan, Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox estimated that the decision to pay employees through May 31 is costing about $3 million daily, amounting to a total of $220 million. The casinos in Nevada are closed, while the ones in China are open to limited business.
Wynn Resorts, the casino’s parent company, put off furloughs after closing on March 15 in light of the coronavirus pandemic, paying the roughly 4,200 employees who work at the $2.6 billion Everett casino. The $3 million a day amounts to roughly $220 million between mid-March and May, the company said.
Perplex glass has been installed where the six feet of social distancing cannot be adhered to and slot machines have been shut down to promote social distancing. All this is in accordance with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. (Douglas Hook / MassLive)
Encore Boston Harbor announced furloughs for 3,000 employees as the Everett casino awaited the start of the state’s third reopening phase to resume its casino operations and dining services. During the shutdown 700 essential staff were kept on.
With the reopening, more than 1,700 employees have been rehired.
When the casino opened in 2019, 125,000 people applied for work and only 3% were hired, according to Gullbrants. He said that unlike some other businesses across the state, where the unemployment check and COVID-19 stimulus package is better than their wage, Encore has had no trouble hiring back its staff.
Encore regularly buys the largest number of flowers in Massachusetts which are planted around the grounds and throughout the casino. Before the pandemic, there was a team of 20-25 gardeners to plant the large numbers of flowers being delivered as well as attending to the grounds and floral decorations throughout the casino, according to Patrick Chadwick, director of horticulture and floral. Now there is a team of 10 and Chadwick.
While the casino was shut down and the horticultural and floral staff furloughed, Chadwick cared for the gardens himself.
Patrick Chadwick, director of horticulture and floral at Boston Encore has been able to hire back half of his staff and hopes, when the casino starts to return to the previous numbers of visitors before the shutdown, he will hire back the rest. (Douglas Hook / MassLive)
Eric Kraus, senior vice president of communications and public affairs said that 135,000 flowers and plants were given away during the shutdown because it would have been pointless to keep them. He told MassLive that they were given to local municipalities and charitable organizations that showed interest in them.
Encore has hired all the horticultural staff back but not all of the floral. Because of fewer numbers, those working the grounds and floral decorations in the casino have had to branch out and try their hand in other areas.
“The florist has taken over the interior plant program here at Encore Boston Harbor,” said Chadwick. “Traditionally, that would have been done by a different role. But now they’re maintaining all the floral arrangements but their also taking care of all the palm [trees], the lobby. They’re doing all that.”
Boston Encore President Brian Gullbrants is enthusiastic about the reopening that took place on July 12. He wants to see how the reopening goes before opening up more of the casino and hotel. With the pandemic still a threat, he told MassLive that the health and safety of the patrons is paramount and would close the doors if he felt too many people were on the casino floor. (Douglas Hook / MassLive)
“Every moment I want more of my staff back,” said Chadwick who has been able to hire all the horticultural staff back but not the floral staff.
Many of the staff at the casino have had to take on more responsibility to ensure that health and safety at the casino are maintained amid a smaller staff than before.
“We’re taking steps forward to get back to some sense of normalcy and this is a part of that journey,” said Gullbrants. “This is one of those steps that we continue to take, and I think Governor [Charlie] Baker has been very vigilant and very measured in his rolling out of the different phases. We’re highly supportive and should we have to take a step back we will. But we’re hoping that with our due diligence, our extensive measures of health and safety protocols and our customer’s compliance, we can continue to maintain a wonderful, safe, fun, environment for all to enjoy. That’s really our focus right now.”
MassForward is MassLive's series examining the journey of Massachusetts' small businesses through and beyond the coronavirus pandemic.
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