The Bureau of Indian Affairs will hold a meeting on April 14 to hear public comments on a draft environmental impact statement for the Pokagon
Band of Potawatomi’s proposed $480 million casino and tribal village on 166 acres near South Bend, Indiana. The comments will be used to prepare a final environmental impact statement for the project, ultimately leading to the land being taken into federal trust.
The development would include a Class III casino, hotel, meeting space, parking garage, 44 housing units, health services and tribal government facilities. Officials said it would create 1,400 construction and 2,000 permanent jobs and produce $620.4 million in annual revenue which partly would be shared with the community.
The Pokagon tribe also holds land in Elkhart County that could be an alternate site.
Recently, a support group has formed called the Michiana Pokagon Alliance, a “community support group made up of citizens who support the band in its effort to restore its land in South Bend.” The opposition group, Citizens for a Better Michiana, said the casino project would “push local businesses to close their doors while only rewarding residents with crime and poverty in our community.”
The tribe is headquartered in Dowagiac, Michigan, but many members live in the South Bend area, less than 25 miles away. The tribe currently operates three Four Winds casinos in New Buffalo, Hartford and Dowagiac.
