NASHUA — If you’ve ever gone to the movies and thought, “Man, I wish they’d install a massive screen like that inside a sports bar, plop that sports bar in the middle of a casino, and attach that casino to an established shopping mall,’’ then brace yourself.
The Nash Casino, which will open Wednesday at the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, has a truly gargantuan screen that general manager Eric Althaus said will show sporting events 99 percent of the time, with an emphasis on local-market teams.
The screen is 60 feet wide and 22 feet tall. There is a large seating area and bar on the ground level, a second bar on the second floor, and a tiered mezzanine in between, with tables and plush seating arranged to maximize viewing for gamblers and non-gamblers alike, who will have the option to reserve spots in advance of major events and on weekends. (Seats will be available without a reservation most days.)
“March Madness is right around the corner,’’ Althaus said, “so it’s going to come in full speed pretty much right after we open.’’
Althaus showed off the massive two-story screen in the DraftKings sports lounge while giving a tour recently through the 130,000-square-foot casino, which is filling the space formerly occupied by a Sears store. (The renovations have thoroughly eliminated any trace of the department store.)
During the tour, some of the roughly 500 people who have been hired so far to run the casino were busy installing final touches on gaming equipment and training to operate the four-bay Topgolf Swing Suite simulators on site.
The entire complex — which features more than 1,000 gaming machines, including historical horse racing machines and table games, plus five separate restaurant and bar concepts — is restricted to adults 21 and older, Althaus said.
The casino’s parent company, ECL Entertainment, projects that The Nash will create more than 600 jobs and generate $24 million annually for about 100 nonprofit organizations in the state.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com.
