Las Vegas Sands Corp. last month announced that it will open the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore in phases starting in April. When the two casinos were first announced, the Singapore government had resisted suggestions that either casino-the other casino is Resorts World at Sentosa, operated by a subsidiary of Genting BHD-would be permitted to open in phases. But as the complicated (and expensive) construction on each property moved on, the government backed down.

Ron Reese, a spokesman for Las Vegas Sands, said the casino, some of the retail operations and some of the meeting and convention space will be ready to debut at some time toward the end of March. Reese also said about 800 of the 2,700 hotel rooms will be ready for occupancy at that time.

The triple 55-story-tower complex is topped off by a seven-acre "sky park" that spans the towers. The complex construction on a one-of-a-kind building set the schedule back, said Reese, who predicts the sky park, as well as the remaining rooms, retail and exhibition space, will be ready by the end of 2010.

Resorts World also is scheduling a phased opening, slated to begin this month. 

By Roger Gros

Roger Gros is publisher of Casino Connection International, LLC. Global Gaming Business magazine, Casino Connection Atlantic City and Casino Connection Nevada are among the monthly publications Gros publishes. Prior to joining CCI, Gros was president of Inlet Communications, an independent consulting firm. He was vice president of Casino Journal Publishing Group from 1984-2000, and held virtually every editorial title during his tenure. Gros was editor of Casino Journal, the National Gaming Summary and the Atlantic City Insider, and was the founding editor of Casino Player magazine. He was a co-founder of the American Gaming Summit and the Southern Gaming Summit conferences and trade shows. He is the author of the best-selling book, How to Win at Casino Gambling (Carlton Books, 1995), now in its third edition. Gros was named “Businessman of the Year” for 1998 by the Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce.