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“Video
Waterfall” Compares to Las Vegas Casino
Attractions
The most
striking project component will be a $2 million
“Video Waterfall,” with eight machines that
project video images on a curved wall of
Plexiglas, as water cascades down the front of
the wall. The Video Waterfall will feature
music videos as well as other presentations
created specifically for the Seminole Hard Rock
Hotel & Casino Tampa. The shows will combine
video and music elements, to the delight of
casino patrons. With a giant chandelier and
skylights above it, the Video Waterfall will
curve along the side of a grand stairway
connecting the new first and second floors of
the casino.
The new casino
space will include forty-four new chandeliers
featuring “Color Kinetic” lighting and
one-of-a-kind custom ceiling details designed by
Cleo Design. New ergonomic seating and foot
rests are designed into all of the additional
gaming machines and the casino floor will debut
several “gaming for two” seating areas
containing comfortable love seats and
memorabilia featuring musical couples like Sonny
and Cher.
In keeping with
the Hard Rock brand, unique pieces of music
memorabilia will be showcased throughout the
expanded casino. Also planned for the casino is
the debut of new interactive memorabilia
displays that allow guests to not only see the
unique memorabilia, but also learn about the
history of the piece and hear the music of the
musicians and bands represented in the display.
These first-of-their-kind displays currently
being developed by Hard Rock International will
feature LCD touch screens that allow guests to
browse through images, sound and data
appropriate to the display.
Council Oak
Restaurant Named for Tribal Meeting Place
Already known
for its distinctive Floyd’s Restaurant and
Nightclub, the Seminole Hard Rock will add a
120-seat Council Oak Steaks & Seafood Restaurant
to join the ranks of fine dining establishments
in Tampa. Designed by Laurence Lee Associates
of Los Angeles and modeled after the popular
Council Oak at the Seminole Hard Rock in
Hollywood, the new Tampa restaurant will feature
dry aging of beef on the premises, resulting in
some of Tampa’s best steaks.
Arriving guests
will pass by a water feature at the entrance to
Council Oak to enter the reception area
featuring a view of the butcher shop and aging
lockers, where prime aged beef will be prepared
every day. An open show kitchen will allow
guests to observe their meals being prepared by
the culinary team. The Council Oak will also
feature a 45-seat cocktail lounge with a stage
featuring live entertainment nightly. A Knife
Club is also planned for the restaurant, with
the steak knives of regular customers and
celebrity guests displayed on a wall. The
Council Oak will be open for dinner only.
The Council Oak
gets its name from an actual oak tree located on
the Hollywood Seminole Reservation. For decades
during the last century, tribal leaders met
formally and informally under the branches of
the huge oak. As a result, the tree has become
a historic icon to members and associates of the
Tribe.
Fall Opening
Brings Marketplace Restaurant
The fall
completion of the expansion project will
introduce a new 390-seat marketplace-style
restaurant on the casino’s new second level.
Action cooking stations will combine
entertainment with food service and will include
a sushi and noodle bar, a working bakery, an
open Mongolian grill and other features. The
marketplace-style restaurant will be open for
both lunch and dinner.
The new second
level of the casino complex will also include a
VIP Club for top-level casino customers. The
VIP Club will feature its own chef preparing
food to order to club guests in an open show
kitchen. VIP guests will be invited to interact
with the top chefs from all of the Seminole Hard
Rock’s restaurants, sharing recipes and enjoying
made-to-order gourmet meals. An intimate lounge
area and separate concierge desk will also be
part of the VIP Club.
The expanded
parking garage will also include a new 9-bay
covered bus port with a separate bus waiting
lounge for casino patrons, who come for day-long
excursions from all over Florida. Access to the
bus port and new parking garage will be via
Orient Road, on the side of the casino complex
closest to I-4.
Patrons
entering the casino from the new parking garage
and bus port will be greeted by a new Seminole
Retail Store featuring traditional Seminole
merchandise such as patchwork shirts, vests and
skirts, as well as intricate woven baskets and
Seminole dolls. Authentic items from other U.S
Indian tribes will also be offered at the
Seminole Store.
The 900 square
foot store Seminole Store will also feature live
demonstrations of wood carving, beadwork, basket
weaving and patchwork. Demonstrations will be
given by both members of the Seminole Tribe and
other and other Native American artisans.
A new Corner
Bar will be located adjacent to the Seminole
Store, with a video wall arching over the bar
seating area.
Casino
Designers Recognized for Dozens of Las Vegas
Projects
Klai Juba
Architects of Las Vegas is the project architect
for the expansion project and HKS Architecture
of Orlando is the architect of record. Klai
Juba also designed the original Seminole Hard
Rock complexes in Tampa and Hollywood, Fla., and
is known for its work at Mandalay Bay and the
MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Interior design firms
working on the project are Laurence Lee
Associates of Los Angeles, Calif., and Cleo
Design of Las Vegas.
Recipient of
the prestigious Four Diamond rating from the
American Automobile Association, the Seminole
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa is located east
of the city and just off the newly-widened I-4
at North Orient Road on the Tampa Seminole
Reservation. It is 20 minutes east of Tampa
International Airport, 10 minutes east of
downtown Tampa, and five minutes east of
historic Ybor City. It is located about one
hour west of Orlando area attractions, via I-4.
About the
Seminole Tribe of Florida
Nearly 3,300
members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida live on
and off reservations throughout the state. A
sovereign government with an elected Tribal
Council, the Seminole Tribe has achieved
remarkable success since it became the first
U.S. Indian Tribe to open high stakes bingo
halls in 1979. Headquartered in Hollywood,
Fla., the Tribe recently completed the
acquisition of Hard Rock International, the
global restaurant and hotel company with the
world’s largest collection of authentic music
memorabilia |
