Spotlight 29, Tortoise Rock Casinos Set to Open

TWENTY NINE PALMS – Just in time for the three-day Memorial Day weekend, Spotlight 29 and Tortoise Rock casinos, located at 46-200 Harrison Place in Coachella and 73829 Baseline Road in Twentynine Palms will re-open.

The pair of popular casinos are set to open on Friday, May 22 at 10 a.m.  The popular community casinos were closed as part of a nationwide effort to help curtail the spread of the COVID-19 virus. During the closure, the casino, restaurants, and all public and back-of-house locations were thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. After opening, these intensive cleaning procedures will continue.

State-of-the-art UV/Ionization air purification equipment has been purchased for both casinos.  Created by RGF Environmental Group, Inc., the newly installed RGF® PHI-Cell® and REME HALO® technology is widely used in healthcare facilities and has had documented success with validated test results showing 99+% reductions on similar viruses. The RGF-BioControls® product line is recognized by Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.

Many other protective measures have been put into place to make sure that Spotlight 29 and Tortoise Rock casino guests can enjoy gaming safely. These include:

• Employees of the casinos will receive COVID-19 testing before returning to work and will receive periodic testing going forward for the foreseeable future.
• All guests, employees and vendors entering the Casino will have their temperature checked, and all guests and employees must wear protective masks and follow all rules for safety and compliance. If guests do not have masks, they will be provided free masks at the door.
• Every slot machine will be disinfected at least once per hour and after each use as possible.
• Hand sanitizer dispensers will be located throughout the casino floor and players will be encouraged and reminded to clean their hands frequently.
• The casino will be practicing social distancing so no one is less than six feet away when they play. This includes a removal of half of the slot chairs and not allowing group gaming, including table games.
• The casino restaurants and bars will also enact social distancing protocols, including removing seating and restructuring public areas to provide adequate space.

“Local, state and national business are slowly starting to reopen after being temporarily closed to curtail the spread of the virus,” said Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians Tribal Chairman Darrell Mike. “We chose to close the Spotlight 29 and the Tortoise Rock casinos as a proactive measure to protect our guests and employees from exposure to the virus. We have utilized this downtime to thoroughly clean every aspect of our operations and feel comfortable slowly reopening some aspects of the gaming areas, restaurants, and bars. We take the threat of this virus very seriously and will carefully monitor all aspects of all of our operations to ensure they surpass the protocol guidelines we have put in place.”

Recently, the Tribe partnered with the Borrego Community Health Foundation, the city of Coachella and the County of Riverside to provide a location for a new East Valley COVID-19 testing site to offer testing for residents in the East Valley. This testing site is located on Tribal land adjacent to the Spotlight 29 casino and will remain there until it is no longer necessary. If anyone wished to get tested for the virus at this site, they are instructed to call 1-833-624-1097 to make a testing reservation.

“Proper and speedy testing of our community members is the most effective way of containing this virus,” continued Chairman Mike. “We are honored to be working so closely with our local partners to offer this easily accessible location for our East Valley residents.”