CS3: Motor City Casino

The Motor City

What was once Wonder Bread and Continental Bakeries is now the site of Motor City Casino.  As the story goes, the existing facilities were not supposed to be a permanent home for Motor City, rather just a stop-gap until the Detroit Michigan river front was developed and a new structure could be built.  Unfortunately or fortunately plans change, and the bakeries of old became the permanent residence for the casino.  As a result of this decision considerable renovation and expansion was required in order for the casino to realize its potential.  From 2006, when the first roof improvements were made, until the summer of 2008, when all new buildings were complete, Royal Roofing Company was there installing the roof.        

From Royal Roofing’s perspective the Motor City Casino roofing project was a challenging job based on the design elements and complexity of all new buildings involved.  Complexities caused by design changes that required roof related details to be reconfigured daily throughout the project, in which had to approved by all parties involved; an on-site architect, owner representatives, and roof-system manufacture to name a few.  Furthermore, because the casino had to be in operation 24-hours a day seven days a week during the entire construction process multiple temporary roofing processes had to be staged to ensure the building is moisture free.  With that being said, the two plus years of work at the casino have been a wonderful experience and has proven to be an excellent demonstration of our versatility. 

As mentioned above, the Motor City Casino construction effort consisted of numerous additions to its existing facilities, and the construction of new structures and bridges; in which links all buildings.  Having been involved since the beginning, the construction management team employed by Motor City was confident in awarding Royal Roof Company the bulk of this roofing work.  The following is a list that highlights the new construction and the roof work that was completed by Royal:

• Casino – Addition
• Adjacent to the original casino an addition was built to expand the current operation.  From a roof perspective it was almost as if a new building was built to stand with the older version.  Therefore, significant roof tie-in was required in order to link the new and old structures.  This entailed the construction of parapet walls to adjoin the existing gravel BUR system with the new Siplast Modified System.
• Valet Building Addition
• To better tie-in to the new hotel, a new addition was added to assist with parking efforts.  A coal-tar pitch roof system was installed.
• Parking Deck Stairway Towers
• GAF (Mechanically Fastened) PVC System
• Hotel
• This is an eighteen floor multi-tiered facility that requires roofing on the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth floors.  In addition, a separate spa, elevator tower, mechanical mezzanine, and loading-dock areas all of which require roofing. 
• The seventeenth floor, eighteenth floor, and elevator tower roofs called for a GAF PVC Roof System
•  Roof level sixteen and the Mechanical Mezzanine required a Siplast Torch-down System; with pavers. 
• The Spa and Loading Dock area both called for a Siplast Granulated Roof System. 
• Events Building
• The Events Building originally was the Continental Bakery facility.  Through renovation an addition was built to expand for shows and concerts.  The original structure, when updated, had an EPDM Rubber system installed.  When the addition was a built it was roofed with a Granulated Siplast and tied-in to the original facility.   
• Bridges
• For customer convenience all buildings are adjoined, at a common floor, via a series of enclosed bridges.  All of which required a GAF Mechanically Attached PVC roof; except one of the three which has an EPDM Rubber System. 

As can be seen in the collage of photos this project is a series of roof sections that contained multiple challenges.  Through detailed project planning, management execution, and Royal Roofing man-power the job was completed as requested. 

The Motor City Casino roof project, a job that required a roofing company that is approved by numerous manufacturers and has the experience to install a range of roof systems, on a large scale, and perform under intense visibility; that company is Royal Roofing.