San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino, San Bernardino

The $249.7-million San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino includes a two-story, Mission style, 480,000-sq.-ft casino with a bingo hall, three specialty restaurants, a buffet, sports bar and central plant. A pedestrian bridge with moving walkways connects the facilities to a seven-story, 1,190-space parking structure and one-story, 450-space, below-grade valet garage.

The architectural character of the facility contains many sections of sloping-roof arcades, coupled with an abundance of stone veneer. There are hints of the tribe's cultural motifs articulated in the paving patterns in the arcades and in the glass etching of the various entry doors. Exterior night lighting was subdued to be in context with the surrounding residential neighborhoods.

The project's primary purpose was to improve the work environment for its employees and also provide new amenities for patrons based upon their specific requests to provide a more comfortable and enjoyable facility. The tribe also wanted to improve pedestrian safety and pedestrian and vehicular access to the reservation. The project's focus was to enhance the existing bingo and casino facilities, integrate critical parking facilities for tribal land use, improve casino and restaurant facilities for patrons and provide a meeting area for tribal and community events.

The site of the new San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino posed a number of construction challenges.

The reservation is in close proximity to residential properties on two sides, a flood-control channel, and large pressure water line serving San Bernardino.

In an effort to improve traffic flow and mitigate parking congestion, Perini built a multi-level cast-in-place concrete parking structure with 1,290 parking spaces.

The site conditions allowed space for the casino, but the six-story parking structure had to be located about 500 ft. away on the opposite side of the flood control channel. Perini built a 425-ft. long enclosed pedestrian bridge that safely and efficiently transports people to and from the casino and parking garage. The bridge has four moving walkways and allows guests to enter the casino without crossing the street. The parking garage opened in advance of the casino.

Other steps taken to reduce potential traffic problems included building three new parking lots before starting on the new casino. The lots also increased safety on site. The lots were located so employees and visitors could bypass construction.

The tribe worked closely with Perini and other consultants to ensure there was minimal impact on its neighbors throughout construction.

Safety in and around the job site was another challenge. The original casino remained opened during construction. In addition to San Manuel employees and hundreds of daily visitors, at the peak of construction there were approximately 1,000 craftspeople working. Perini had two full-time safety engineers on the job. The tribe's risk-management department staff employed five full-time safety employees on site.

Owner's Comments:

"Perini excels at high-quality construction and completing projects expeditiously-which is of utmost importance to the tribe as we strive to build an outstanding entertainment property while minimizing the impact of construction on neighboring areas."
-Deron Marquez, chairman, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians

Owner: San Manuel Band of Mission Indians
Architects: Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (casino)
Choate Parking Consultants Inc. (parking)
General contractor: Perini Building Co.
Engineering team:
Berryman & Henigar Inc.
Construction Testing Engineering Inc.
Curtain Wall Design & Consulting
Independent Roofing/Waterproofing
JBA Consulting Engineers
Kelley Communications Co. Inc.
Kleinfelder
Lochsa Engineering
Wildan Associates
Yates-Silverman Inc.
Key subcontractors:
ABC Resources Inc.
Aero Automatic Sprinkler Co.
Alexander Services
All-American Asphalt
Alliance Roofing Co. Inc.
ARB Inc.
Bergelectric Corp.
Bratton Masonry Inc.
Carver and Associates
Cattrac Construction Inc.
Cookson Door Sales Co.
Direct AV Inc.
Door & Hardware Management Inc.
F. Rodgers Insulation Inc.
Fontana Steel (CMC Steel Fabricators Inc.)
Glass Factory Inc.
GoForth and Marty
Hasson Inc.
Herman Weissker Inc.
Honeywell International Inc.
J & R Flooring, dba J. Picini Flooring
Keenan, Hopkins, Suder and Stowell Contractors Inc.
KONE Inc.
Malcolm Drilling Co. Inc.
Meyer and Lundahl Manufacturing Co.
Orange County Erectors Inc.
Quality Cabinet and Fixture Co.
Reyes Construction Inc.
Schuff Steel
Southwest Surveillance Systems Inc.
Strategic Equipment and Supply Corp.
University Marelich Mechanical
ValleyCrest Cos.
Young Electric Sign Co.

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