June 1, 2020

The casino floor, most restaurants and the golf course at Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort near Larchwood, Iowa, are back open.

The casino has been limited to 480 people on the floor at once – normally, it could be up to 3,700.

That and other restrictions are mandated by the state of Iowa to slow the spread of COVID-19.

In addition to the normal security, Grand Falls staff members now tabulate each individual coming onto and off the floor.

“We also have to ensure that we maintain 6 feet (of distance) on the slot machines, so we went through our casino floor to ensure machines are 6 feet apart. They’re every other one if not further,” general manager Sharon Haselhoff said.

“Machines are off or out of service if they do not meet that 6-foot requirement.”

Spacing at table games while keeping them to half-capacity isn’t feasible, so unless state regulations change, those will stay closed for now, she said.

If there are more than 480 people who want to be on the casino floor, they will wait in the event center in chairs spaced apart, “and it will be one in and one out, and that will be our process,” Haselhoff said.

Grand Falls has “just really have increased the number of people and the frequency” for cleaning, she added.

“I went out to Deadwood the weekend they opened, and I thought there were some places that did a really good job. They were people who had a very high presence on the floor and were present and had signage up. Being out there and seeing it being done is reassuring, so that’s what we’re going to be doing.”

Employees are required to wear masks, and patrons will be offered them.

“We are going to have them available at every outlet,” Haselhoff said.

The Betfred Sportsbook and its bar and restaurant also are open. Some chairs are out of service for distancing.

Ruthie’s Steak & Seafood and the Big Drop Cafe opened May 20, along with the retail outlets, golf shop and golf course. The buffet isn’t back open yet.

The event center isn’t scheduled to host concerts or other events until September.

“We’ve been able to reschedule every single concert we’ve had, luckily all the way until 2021, and we are going to start adding stuff into our center stage. We do want to have that ambience onto the floor to give the floor some energy.”

The hotel has changed its approach to cleaning, not entering rooms until after guests check out, and some furniture in the rooms has been removed to cut down on touch points.

“When we opened the hotel, the No. 1 question people had was: Is your pool up?” Haselhoff said. “We are still waiting for the governor to (allow) openings for pools and hot tubs.”

The pool is filled, and lifeguards have been hired, so “we’ll be up and running as soon as they give us notice,” she said.

Grand Falls also is moving forward with the next phases of $10 million in improvements, including adding 66 hotel rooms with an elevated corridor overlooking the pool. The work will be done somewhat later than planned because of COVID-related delays.

“I expect later this summer we’ll be ready to go, but it’s not open now,” Haselhoff said.

The casino resort marks its ninth anniversary June 9. The pool party of past years won’t be held this year, but there will be cake on the casino floor and fireworks at dusk.

“I would envision this year you’ll have a lot more people in their cars watching, but that’s OK,” Haselhoff said. “It gives people something to do as a family and enjoy.”