The Tejon Indian Tribe of Central California and Hard Rock International have launched a joint project to build a $600 casino hotel resort near Bakersfield. The project was announced last week in a joint press release. It would have a 165,500-square-foot casino and 400-room hotel.
Hard Rock will build and operate the casino for the tribe on 52 of 306 acres off Highway 99. The land is in the process of being put into trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which has begun the environmental review process.
The 987-member tribe was landless for many years, now, tribal spokesman Sandra Hernandez told KBAK “Without a land base or a central commune to go to, you are like needles in a haystack. Now with this opportunity to get back our land base, we’ll have that chance to commune.”
Tejon Tribal Chairman Octavio Escobedo estimates that review could take between three to five years.
The resort will include 13 restaurants and bars, a Rock Spa and fitness facility, the largest convention center in Kern County and a concert venue. The tribe is also building a 22 acre RV park, tribal offices, service facilities and member housing on the remainder of the land.
The project will be an economic generator, producing 1,000 construction jobs and 2,000 permanent ones, while the tribe helps beef up county emergency services and first responders. The tribe also has the option of funding its own fire department and tribal police.
The tribe has agreed to pay Kern County $59 million annually, with County Administrative Officer Ryan Alsop last week telling The Bakersfield Californian that the project is “an extraordinary win for Kern County and our residents.”
Alsop added, “We’re excited and positioned to work closely with Hard Rock International and the Tejon Tribe to work through a thorough and open planning process, and create what we hope will be a long-term, lucrative partnership.”
The tribe’s struggles stretches over about two decades. The tribe first won federal recognition in 2012 and began working with Las Vegas gaming executive Bill Workman soon after. It spent several years in talks with Station Casinos, before switching over to Hard Rock in 2017.
This isn’t the only casino Hard Rock is building in the Golden State. It is scheduled to open another tribal casino near Sacramento the state capital by the end of 2019.
The casino also won’t be the only one in Kern County, which has four card clubs, according to Kern County Supervisor Mick Gleason, who predicted that the casino would be “a first class venture.”
