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Posted by Havasu Landing Resort & Casino on Thursday, February 28, 2019
The Chemehuevi Tribe continues to pursue an off-reservation casino in California as it completes work on a new facility.
The tribe has held informal meetings with officials in Barstow, The Victorville Daily Press reported. Plans call for a casino on a 40-acre site near the Stoddard Wells Off-Highway Vehicle Area, the paper said. “It’s important to us to meet and discuss the plans we have, which have changed, in order to get on the same page with the city,” Chairman Charles Jones told the paper. In the past, the tribe has said it will pursue the project under the two-part determination provisions of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The law requires approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs as well as approval from the state governor. The 40-acre site would also have to be placed in trust. The Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians also has sought a casino in Barstow but the project has not moved forward since the publication of a final environmental impact statement more than five years ago. The Chemehuevi Tribe is finishing work on an entirely new Havasu Landing Resort and Casino on its reservation. All that's left to do is a parking lot but finishing it is proving to be difficult, The Havasu News Herald reported. “Find me some concrete workers,” Vice Chairman Brian McDonald told the paper. “We’re having work force challenges in trying to get our parking lot finished. We can’t invite people here if the lot isn’t done.” The 72,500 square-foot facility features a 48-room hotel, 320 gaming machines and tables, a restaurant, a general store and a marina. Construction costs were reported to be $40 million.