Montecasino, the flagship gaming complex of Tsogo Sun Holdings, will be getting a R335m facelift.

It is expected that the new development will rival Sun City, which hosts numerous extravaganzas.

The Montecasino development, known as Lifestyle Expansion, will create a tourist attraction for business travellers, shoppers, gamblers and theatregoers.

It brings Tsogo Sun's total investment in Gauteng to over R2,2bn.

Montecasino expects to open the doors to its entertainment and lifestyle centre in December next year.

Construction on the expansion site started last week, with 30% of the work being contracted to empowerment companies.

Visitors can look forward to an Italian-style piazza capable of hosting 4,000 people, a 1,900-seat state-of-the-art theatre, a 180-room business-class hotel, five new restaurants and a 450-seater conference facility.

The expansion would also include a paved area for large-scale productions, such as the Moscow Circus, and 1,000 new parking bays.

The rugby field-sized piazza is surrounded by buildings - with a bell tower as its focal point. It will be marketed as the ideal venue for a variety of outdoor activities and events, including festivals, boxing, tennis, fashion shows, exhibitions, open air banquets and product launches. Restaurants and the hotel will line the piazza.

The R96m hotel development will target "the new-age business tourist" and mark the launch of Southern Sun's new hotel brand, Sun Square, a two to three-star facility with a modern and trendy interior. The R90m "world-class teatro" is expected to bring live Broadway-style shows to South Africa, which Sun International's Superbowl is renowned for, and inject new life into the arts industry.

"South Africa already has the best facilities in the State Theatre and Nico Malan in Cape Town. This theatre will add to those and will host world-class musicals of the highest standard," said Tsogo Sun managing director Jabu Mabuza on Tuesday at the announcement. "We won't compete with Sun City, but we will have a lot more offerings than Sun City."

Daily Dispatch
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge