Turning Stone Casino and Resort
| Turning Stone Resort Casino | |
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Table-level view of live poker at Turning Stone
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 Location in central New York
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| Location | Verona, New York |
| Address | 5218 Patrick Road |
| Opening date | July 16, 1993 |
| No. of rooms | 709 (across four hotels) |
| Casino type | Land-based |
| Owner | Oneida Indian Nation |
| Renovated in | 1997 (addition of hotel) 2004 (second hotel tower) 2010-2012 (renovation of existing hotel building) |
| Coordinates | 43°06′54″N 75°35′20″W / 43.115°N 75.589°W |
| Website | turningstone.com |
Turning Stone Casino Resort is a resort owned and operated by the Oneida Indian Nation in Verona, New York.
The facility opened on July 20, 1993, and offers golf amenities (on- and off-site golf courses, one of PGA Tour quality, and an indoor golf dome), an RV park, an amusement arcade, many restaurants, spas, Bingo, Keno, table games, and many types of reel and video slot machines. Until the Seneca Niagara Casino opened in 2002, it was the only land-based casino in New York. The resort is a popular tourist destination in central New York State and has received numerous awards in the industry.
The casino, and associated hotel for visitors and conventions, was conceived as a revenue-generating enterprise to aid in economic and social development of the Oneida Indian Nation. It was developed at a time when Native American sovereignty and the right to establish gaming casinos on reservations had survived court challenges. Development of the casino was opposed by some both within and outside the Oneida Nation. As a fall-back plan, the Oneida Indian Nation had the casino designed so that it could be adapted as a small shopping mall, if necessary.
The land upon which the Casino is located was acquired from Ibrahim Batca and his family in two transactions in 1992 and 1993. Construction of an on-site hotel and a bingo hall began in 1994. The Bingo Hall's construction was completed in 1995. Disagreements over the hotel plans delayed its construction for a year. The hotel's original design plans had the hotel and casino separate, connected only by an outdoor walkway. Because of the delay, the hotel plans were re-designed to combine the hotel and casino into one structure. This new design allowed the Oneida Indian Nation to offer more services, including a pool, a spa, and a gym. Additionally, the combination created a larger and more formal lobby to serve both the hotel and casino to be one structure.
In 1997 the Oneidas paid for construction of a water tower near the casino and donated it to the Town of Verona, as one of their community contributions. The water tower has a capacity to hold 1,000,000 gallons of water. In 2005 the Nation consumed 600,000 gallons per day, which was four times the amount guaranteed to them under an agreement with the Town of Verona. In about July 2005 the Town of Verona notified the Nation that after 5:00 p.m. on August 2, 2005, the water would be shut off after the tribe had used the 150,000 gallons of water that is guaranteed under the agreement. Just hours before this deadline, the Oneida tribe began paying for a new water pump to be installed to provide the needed water capacity for the casino and resort.
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