Nearly three years in the making, the Rivers Casino finally is ready to roll.

After surviving a near bankruptcy and ownership change last summer, the North Shore slots venue is on track to open to the public at noon Aug. 9 after two invitation-only test runs Aug. 5 and 7.

During a media tour yesterday, the cavernous facility on the bank of the Ohio River was awash with activity. Crews were cleaning windows and adding finishing touches to restaurants, lounges, and the 120,000-square-foot gambling floor itself. Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board officials were on hand to make sure slot machines were connected to state computers and security and surveillance systems were working. Employees were undergoing final training.

"We're in the touch-up phase right now," casino President Ed Fasulo said.

Grand-opening festivities will include a performance by Rare Earth, one of the groups that recorded the casino's theme song, "Get Ready," and a 12-minute fireworks finale. The casino also will give away $1,000 an hour for the first 12 hours after opening.

It represents quite a turnaround for a project that appeared to be on the verge of collapse last summer after Detroit businessman Don Barden, who won the Pittsburgh slots license in December 2006, failed to secure permanent financing for the $780 million venture.

Work stopped for nearly two months when Mr. Barden was unable to pay contractors. He ultimately relinquished control of the casino to a group led by Chicago billionaire Neil Bluhm. Mr. Barden's group still owns 20 percent.

The Pittsburgh slots venue, opening 17 months behind Mr. Barden's original timetable, will become the third stand-alone casino in the state.

Mount Airy Casino Resort was the first, in October 2007, and Sands Casino in Bethlehem was the second in May.

Gaming board officials have high hopes for Pittsburgh.

"This is obviously going to be one of the top producers in the commonwealth," spokesman Doug Harbach said. "It's in an urban area. The expectation is that it will drive a lot of revenues throughout the commonwealth for things like property tax relief."

The casino will open with 3,000 machines but expects to add more after six months in operation, depending on demand. In projections filed with the gaming board last year, it estimated it would generate $427.8 million a year in revenue with an average of 3,250 machines. If the predictions hold true, the casino could out-produce any other in the state.

Despite the economic downturn and high jobless rates, Greg Carlin, the casino's chief executive officer, said he is still comfortable with the estimates.

On average, the casino will keep about 9 cents of every dollar gambled, about the same as that statewide.

"I think that we've done everything we can to generate the revenue that we were originally projecting. Hopefully the economy is going to cooperate and the players are going to love the facility and we're going to hit our projections," he said.

Mr. Carlin said the casino also is "very close" to resolving a dispute with the city-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority over when its annual $7.5 million payments toward the new arena will start. The SEA wants payments to start this fall and the casino next year.

The two test days will benefit four charities -- the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, the Allegheny County World War II Memorial and Allegheny General Hospital. The 10,000 people invited to each of the days include donors to the charities, elected officials and vendors.

And in what may be an unorthodox marketing move, the casino chose a Sunday for its public debut in an effort to "ease into the opening" and keep crowds to a more manageable size, Mr. Carlin said.