River Cree marks milestone in $200M expansion, hopes to become ‘10-minute city’

A rendering of the new River Cree Resort and Casino expansion, which broke ground Sept. 7, 2024. (Supplied)

The River Cree Resort and Casino officially marked the end of its exterior renovations in its years-long mission to double its size.

The popular attraction west of Edmonton topped off its hotel expansion with the completion of a 20th floor.

Construction will now move to the interior phase. Enoch Cree Nation, the owner, says it is on track to hit an opening deadline of July 2027.

River Cree, which opened in 2006, broke ground on a 240-room and 40,000-foot event space expansion, including a new swimming pool, in September 2024.

Tuesday’s milestone featured a ceremony that Enoch Cree Nation Tribal Council member Kyle Peacock called a “blessing.”

“It’s a blessing of the projects and the nation and the people that are going to be staying here with us, and we do our best to protect others,” he said.

He’s also looking forward to the ongoing growth of the destination past next summer, which could include new expansion projects like a spa.

“This is a destination for people around the world, not just the United States. We lead the way in economic development in Canada for First Nations. We don’t stop. We’re going to keep building and not stop building until we have everything in place here,” he said.

“It’s going to be basically a 10-minute city that has all the amenities of any resort.”

Enoch Cree Nation is the sole owner of the River Cree Resort and Casino after buying out Paragon Gaming in 2014 and Marriott Hotels in 2018.

The $200-million project is paid for entirely by casino-made money.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall