“This used to be a village what it has become is monumental.” “We started this $700 million and two years ago,” said Chairman Marcellus W. Seminole medicine man Bobby Henry, left, retired Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa President John Fontana, center, and the property’s current president Steve Bonner watch the grand opening of the Tampa expansion.
Tampa residents moved from the Tampa reservation in the early 1980s to make room for what would become the most successful casino in North America. Tribal leaders and Hard Rock executives also lent their voices to the day. “We started with a chickee and one alligator in a pen,” said President Mitchell Cypress.īefore the pyrotechnics and daredevil antics began, invited guests filled the Hard Rock Event Center for a performance by the hi-tech neon and LED dance group Light Balance. The hotel and casino is on the former Tampa reservation, a site which once held more modest structures. 4 with a sold-out concert by country superstar Keith Urban and a pool party Oct. 3 with a guitar smash, fireworks, celebrities and a thrilling high-wire act by Nik and Delilah Wallenda. The $700 million expansion was celebrated Oct. TAMPA - It wasn’t just any grand opening the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa went all out for the property’s Grand Celebration.
