Customer welcomes reopening of Fire Rock casino

 

CHURCH ROCK, N.M.

Bring your ID, not your hunger.

Two of the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise’s four casinos reopened today after being closed over a year ago.

The soft reopening began at 9 a.m. at Fire Rock Casino in Church Rock and Northern Edge Casino near Farmington.

Lines of people at the Church Rock casino did not reach around the corner. After all, the threat of another COVID-19 outbreak looms on everyone’s mind, including that of Robert Peterson from Thoreau.

“People are still afraid to come here but a lot of them want to enjoy being out instead of being stuck at home,” said Peterson, who was about to try his luck on a slot machine.

“They want to come out here and enjoy,” he said. “Maybe some of them want to see their friends again … even though we really can’t hug or things like that.”

To gain entry into both casinos during the soft reopening, a state ID, like a driver’s license, is required and a working number at which you can be contacted.

Temperature checks were also part of the requirements for anyone wanting to enter.

After his temperature was checked, security asked a customer to momentarily remove his mask and look at the front entrance security camera.

The purpose of collecting all of the information is for contact tracing, said Brian Parrish, interim CEO of Navajo Gaming.

“We stop at the check-in station,” he said. “They remove their mask and have their temperature checked – computer based.

“And we scan their driver’s license and record their phone number just so we have it for contact tracing,” he said. “That’s just in the event that it’s needed later. That data will not be used for anything but contact tracing.”

No food will be served during the two-week soft reopening, Parrish said. Only bottled water is served during operating hours, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The casinos are allowed a quarter of the maximum occupancy capacity, as well. For Fire Rock Casino, that’s 2,000 people, Parrish said.

“Our fire code is well over two thousand, but we’re only going to allow four hundred in,” he said, adding those numbers include casino employees.

Peterson, who said he lives alone, welcomes the casino reopening.

“For me, I got tired of being home, so I decided to come here this morning and enjoy myself and do what I can,” he said. “It gets lonely at home.

“I’m sure a lot of people who come here are like that,” he said. “They come here to enjoy friends. Maybe somebody will get lucky and win some money too.”

---