The Desert Diamond Casino, the first permanent casino resort to be built by the Tohono O’odham Nation, will open late in 2019. It is being built check by jowl with the temporary casino that it first opened in 2015.
The tribe turned soil on the $400 million project about nine months ago. Last week 300 attended the “topping off” ceremony that marked the last girder placed on the new casino building.
The permanent casino will have 75,000 square feet of gaming, compared with 30,000 SF for the current property, five restaurants and live bingo.
Phase one of the project includes the new casino, a service build and two covered parking structures that will connect the two casinos. The original will eventually be used as a storage warehouse.
The tribe first announced its plans for a Class III casino near Glendale nine years ago. They fought for most of those years against the city of Glendale, the state of Arizona and several competing gaming tribes.
At the topping off ceremony, everyone let bygones be bygones. “One of the things we have learned is that challenges bring us together,” said tribal Chairman Edward Manuel. “This celebration is not about a building, because this project has connected us together.”
