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HAWAIIAN GARDENS >> Earthy colors such as sandstone, amber and terra cotta set the tone inside The Gardens Casino, a Southland gambling destination on the verge of completing a $90-million transformation.

The project, which attracted a visit from Gov. Jerry Brown nearly three years ago, has been called a renovation effort but may be more accurately described as a construction project.

When the governor stopped by in December 2013, the Carson Street venue was known as Hawaiian Gardens Casino, where players sat at card tables beneath a giant white tent.

At the time, the renovation project was expected to cost $45 million. Casino general manager Ron Sarabi said during a Friday tour of the venue the scope of the project got bigger and bigger as work went on.

“A little but here, and a little bit there, and the project added up to $90 million,” he said.

The new casino is a 200,000-square-foot building where 5,000 to 7,000 people can gamble at more than 300 tables, according to a casino announcement. A grand opening date has yet to be scheduled.

Some construction remains. The odor of hot asphalt could be detected on a Friday afternoon in the area where workers worked to complete the casino’s parking lot.

The interior of the casino, however, appeared to essentially complete. Tables set up for players to compete in no-limit hold ‘em, blackjack, EZ baccarat and pai gow poker, The design is dominated by natural and cool colors like sandy browns or peacock blue, and Sarabi said there is now a lot more space between tables, compared to the old casino.

“The most important thing in the design is comfort and space. When we were in the tent, you couldn’t even walk by, because the tables were so close,” Sarabi said. “We wanted to give the customer a very mellow, relaxed place to play.”

Upscale trend

The Gardens Casino’s redesign also includes a cavernous kitchen where long lines of cooks prepare American, Mexican, Italian, Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. Other new features:

•An oval-shaped bar, half of which can be reserved for private parties;

•A VIP gaming area where green-and-blue and red-and-orange dragon figures loom overhead;

•Special event space on the second floor;

•And upstairs VIP rooms where management can invite select guests to rest or even shower.

The upgraded casino also features a security room where employees keep their eyes on monitors that can zoom in on an individual players’ chips or the license plates of cars parked outside. Sarabi said more than 1,000 such cameras are installed around the property.

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The Gardens Casino is not the only Southland gambling venue to undergo such a transformation. A new Hollywood Park Casino is expected to open soon Inglewood, near the Los Angeles Rams’ future home stadium.

The Bicycle Hotel & Casino’s seven-story hotel in Bell Gardens opened last December.

And Larry Flynt, who owns Hustler Casino in Gardena, has acquired the former Normandie Casino in that city. He promptly renamed the venue the Lucky Lady Casino and announced plans for $60 million in upgrades.

Small city, big player

Hawaiian Gardens is Los Angeles County’s smallest city, in terms of area. Its territory covers just under a square mile with a population of nearly 14,600 people, according to last year’s Census estimate.

The Gardens Casino has long been known as the city’s major employer and the key revenue source for Hawaiian Gardens’ city government. In 2013, when Gov. Brown visited the site, then-mayor Victor Farfan said the casino provided some 70 percent of the city’s general-fund revenues.

The Gardens Casino is also a major employer. Sarabi said some 1,850 people work at the casino, including 250 who live in Long Beach and 240 from Lakewood.