Two out of three of Detroit's casinos will re-open Wednesday, Aug. 5, the first day Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has green lit casinos in the city to open.
Greektown and MotorCity casinos will open Wednesday, while MGM Grand Detroit will open Friday.
Fifty-percent of MotorCity Casino employees has been called back to work five months after the pandemic forced Detroit's three casinos to shut down.
"We miss our customers and want them all to come back right away," said MotorCity's President Bruce Dall.
The general public is welcome to visit MotorCity when they reopen Wednesday at 10 a.m. The reopening of MGM Detroit the same day is invitation only. The public will be allowed to enter Friday at 10 a.m.
Things will look different
At MotorCity Monday, returning employees were being tested for COVID-19. They must test negative to be cleared to return to work and every day, employees and guests will be temperature checked before they're allowed to enter the casino.
Only two restaurants will be opening Wednesday: Grand River Deli & Burgers and Little Caesars. Tables in the dining area have been separated by 10 feet and, for now, eating is only allowed in specified dining areas.
Guests won't have to look far for hand sanitizer as 200 hand sanitizing stations have been set throughout the casino.
Chairs have been removed at gaming tables to keep a distance between guests who will also notice plexiglass barriers between many of the dealers and in between players.
Dall says they are still waiting on an order of plexiglass and until it arrives, some dealers will be wearing face shields in addition to their masks.
Everyone is required to wear a mask, except when eating or drinking and they must be seated to drink. But before guests even enter the casino, they'll be temperature checked in the parking garage.
And, until restrictions under the governor's orders ease, casinos have to keep their customer capacity to 15% which, at MotorCity Casino, is about 1,600 guests.
It's a 160,000-square-foot casino so, according to Dall, every customer will have an average of 100-square-feet to themselves.
"We're big," he said, adding that they expect to reopen the hotel on Friday.