The Ojibwa Casino in Baraga, Michigan. Photo from 500 Nations
Members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community of Michigan voted to move forward with plans for a new casino. At a community meeting on Saturday, Treasurer Eddy Edwards said tribal members voted 134-36 to purchase the Baraga Lakeside Inn for $1,000 from an ownership group. The deal requires the tribe to assume $2.6 million in the existing ownership group's debt plus pay $150,000 for half of a marina at the site.
The potential new home of the Ojibwa Casino in Baraga. Photo from The Baraga Lakeside Inn
The tribe will then move the existing Ojibwa Casino to the new site. Edwards has been a major proponent of the plan. However, former chairman Fred Dakota claims the vote was illegal. He said it should have been held with a polling location and secret ballots rather than as a meeting. Dakota has filed a lawsuit in tribal court to contest the referendum. Get the Story:
KBIC OKs purchase of Lakeside Inn (The Marquette Mining Gazette 8/5) Related Stories:
Editorial: Community benefits from new KBIC gaming facility (8/4)
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community continues work on casino plan (07/09)
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