Construction on New Casino Hotel is Started

Gov. Jerry Brown today helped mark the start of construction on a $45 million hotel at The Bicycle Casino that officials said would create hundreds of jobs.

The 100-room Bicycle Casino Hotel will employ 300 people during its construction phase and generate 250 permanent jobs in a city faced with 16.3 percent unemployment, Brown said.

"This project and its hundreds of construction and permanent hospitality jobs is another sign of a rebound in the California economy, especially in our smaller cities and communities taking the brunt of the downturn," Brown said. "Private sector investments such as the one being made by The Bicycle Casino are a strong vote of confidence in our economic future and I applaud them for taking this step."

Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, said Los Angeles County's southeast communities were some of the hardest hit by the recession.

As a result, he said, "working families have taken the largest toll from the loss of jobs and the lack of growth opportunities for businesses in our communities."

The $45 million private investment in the hotel "represents not only a new hotel, but also growth to our local economies which will give people an opportunity to provide for themselves and their children," Lara said.

The hotel is expected to be completed by 2015.

-- City News Service