8News steps inside Petersburg’s Live! Casino for the first time

PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) -- 8News got a first look inside the Petersburg Live! Casino's temporary facility, just over a year after residents voted to approve the $1.4 billion project.

Thirteen months after more than 80% of Petersburg voters agreed to bring Live! Casino and Resort to their city, Live! and Cordish Gaming said they'll be ready to open the doors to the temporary casino facility on January 22, 2026.

A look inside this week gives the first sense of the 75,000-square-foot space where gamblers will soon play slots and live table games.

"[We] broke ground in March," said Renee Mutchnik, Vice President of Communications for Live! Virginia. "And here we are, ready to open our doors in January, [it] is remarkable."

While they are still waiting on regulatory approval from the Virginia Lottery board, representatives are confident it will come before the proposed opening date.

President of Cordish Gaming Group Rob Norton said they've hired 60% of the 500 employees they need. The more than 900 slot machines started to arrive earlier this December.

"By the end of this week, this casino will be fully functional," Norton said. "That'll leave us the better part of this month just to work out all the little operational kinks that we have to do from a technology and the gaming side. Which leaves us all of January for in-depth training."

The project has been promised to transform Petersburg's economy. 82% of voters backed the referendum to bring the casino there in November 2024, after being rejected twice in Richmond.

According to Cordish Companies, the development will contribute $2.8 billion in economic impact and $504 million in total tax revenue, including $240 million allocated directly to the city of Petersburg.

It's also expected to generate thousands of jobs and revive the city's tourism industry, with downtown businesses preparing to see tens of thousands of new visitors every month.

Expectations are high. Live! said they'll meet them.

"We deliver what we promise. And so I think nobody will be disappointed. I think it will be something that no one has ever seen in this region," Mutchnik said.

The full resort and casino is still in progress. Construction is expected to finish in about two years.

Hiring is still underway for the temporary facility. An accelerated session of table dealer classes at Richard Bland College will begin Dec. 8. Learn more about the Dealer Institute here.