Revel Entertainment made headlines last month when it announced plans to set "term limits" for its frontline employees, who interact most frequently with the public. Atlantic City's largest labor union has said the hiring practice, unprecedented among the city's casinos, would promote age discrimination.
Although the Revel still has a dust-on-the-shoes feel - hundreds of carpenters, electricians, painters, plumbers, and others are on site five days a week - many of its public places are nearly completed.
"You're really able to see the beautiful design coming to life," Johnson said.
In the casino, the walls are painted, the carpet is down, and many of the finishing touches, such as lighting fixtures, have been installed.
But "it's a milestone when the first slot machines arrive," Johnson said Wednesday.
Workers will bring in as many as 300 slot machines a day until Jan. 20, said George Mancuso, Revel's vice president of slot operations. There will be 2,400 slots on the 150,000-square-foot casino floor, he said.
"This property will set a new standard, not just in Atlantic City but in the entire casino industry," Mancuso said.
The faltering economy hit like a tsunami at this gambling resort, which has also felt the effects of competition from Pennsylvania and New York gambling venues. Casino revenue in New Jersey has declined steadily since 2006, when it peaked at $5.2 billion. Experts expect revenue in 2011 to be about $3.2 billion.
Located on the north end of the Boardwalk in the Inlet section, the 47-story Revel will be New Jersey's second-tallest structure, behind Newark's Goldman Sachs tower. The project has had its anxious moments. Begun in 2008, it stalled a little more than a year into construction when the economy tanked and Revel Entertainment lost financing.
