Litigation | Openings & Closings

Gun Lake Tribe to nearly double size of casino with $76M project

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Construction crews at work on a $76 million expansion of the Gun Lake Casino in Wayland, Michigan. Photo from Gun Lake Casino

The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe, revealed details of a $76 million casino expansion project on Tuesday.

The tribe is adding 73,000 square-feet to the Gun Lake Casino in Wayland, Michigan. When the work is complete in the summer of 2017, the facility will nearly double in size.

"This $76 million expansion will produce economic growth and more career opportunities for our tribal citizens and our friends and neighbors here in West Michigan," acting chairman Ed Pigeon said in a press release.

The project includes a 300-seat multi-station buffet restaurant, a larger Stage 131 entertainment lounge in a different space at the casino, a new high-limit gaming room and more slot machines and table games. There's also more space for employees with a new dining room and lounge.

Construction, which started in January, will support 300 to 400 jobs. The casino itself will add another 100 positions, bringing the total number of employees to more than 900.

Oral arguments in Patchak v. Jewell will take place at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2016.

The announcement comes as the tribe faces yet another hearing in a long-running land-into-trust dispute. At issue is S.1603, the Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation Act, a law that confirms that the casino site is indeed Indian land.

A federal judge upheld the constitutionality of the law last June. But David Patchak -- who lives three miles from the casino and has admitted he wants to some sort of monetary payout for his apparent troubles -- has taken the case to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Oral arguments are scheduled for May 13, according to the court's calendar. Turtle Talk has posted briefs from the case, Patchak v. Jewell

Patchak originally filed his lawsuit in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. In that ruling, the justices held that the Bureau of Indian Affairs can only acquire land for tribes that were "under federal jurisdiction" as of 1934. The Gun Lake Tribe gained recognition in 1999.

A decision on Patchak's claim was never reached on the merits because a different legal question arose during the litigation. The Supreme Court, in Salazar v. Patchak, ruled that he could proceed even though the BIA had already placed the land in trust. By that time, the casino had already opened.

Get the Story:
$76M expansion will nearly double casino's size (MLive 4/12)
Casino begins $76M expansion (The Grand Rapids Business Journal 4/12)
$76M expansion ongoing at Gun Lake Casino (WZZM 4/12)
Gun Lake Casino releases details of expansion (WMMT 4/12)

Federal District Court Decision:
Patchak v. Jewell (June 17, 2015)

Supreme Court Decision:
Patchak v. Salazar (June 18, 2012)

DC Circuit Decision:
Patchak v. Salazar (January 21, 2011)