SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Officials with the new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino being built in downtown Sioux City say the casino will open for business this summer. The Sioux City Journal reports casino general manager Todd Moyer said on Wednesday that the casino will welcome its first guests on Aug. 1st. Moyer estimates that work on the $128.5 million downtown project, which began eight months ago, is about 80 percent finished.

The casino and hotel will employ about 500 people. With fewer than three dozen positions filled so far, the majority of hiring will occur over the next two months. About 130 candidates for table game jobs are being trained at a Hard Rock-sponsored dealer school that began Tuesday.

A job fair for the casino is scheduled June 4th and 5th.