Pittsburgh's Majestic Star casino is expected to open on May 1, 2009.

Ed Fasulo, the casino vice president and general manager, said yesterday that date is subject to construction delays or other factors that could impact the schedule.

Businessman Don Barden broke ground on his $450 million North Shore casino Dec. 11, after nearly a year of delays.

Workers are on a very tight 16-month construction schedule to complete the city's lone slot machine casino.

So far, the work is off to a good start, Mr. Fasulo said.

The casino work has claimed one casualty so far -- the closing of the North Shore riverfront trail at the site of the construction.

Spokesman Bob Oltmanns said the casino needed the space for construction staging and other activities.

Mr. Oltmanns said the trail would reopen and there would be full access to it once the casino opens.

City transportation planner Sidney Kaikai said he is working with Bike Pittsburgh and Friends of the Riverfront to try to devise a safe detour for trail users around the casino site during construction.

The casino's architects also have reworked the appearance of the casino's much-debated parking garage, mostly satisfying previous concerns from a group that advises the city planning commission on building design.

The entire building will be stained light buff to match its cast stone base, rooftop mechanical equipment will be screened and a curving, perforated metal screen will be extended around all four sides of the garage.

In previous plans, a 59-foot-tall garage wall facing Mount Washington and the West End Bridge was left plain concrete, drawing objections from the Contextual Design Advisory Panel. But the silvery screen that now will face south will mirror its surroundings, making the building attractive from all sides, members said at a meeting yesterday.

"They're picking up the color of the sky and the color of the hillsides and the surrounding environment and it's breaking up the building's mass," said Bill Kolano, a panel member who runs an East Liberty design firm. "It's a very good architectural device."