The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community of the Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians announced construction of the .5 million expansion at its Marquette Ojibwa II Casino in Chocolay Township, Michigan will begin July 24. In addition, the tribe will invest million in improvements at its Baraga casino. The upgrades were announced in November 2016.
The Chocolay Township project will feature a 3-story, 76-room hotel with a pool and spa,100-seat restaurant, grill and 1,200-seat event center. Also, new table games will be offered and additional slots will increase the total from the current 289 to 500, said KBIC Casinos General Manager Don Wren. The current casino will become a 400-seat convention center. He noted the expansion will create 50 new permanent jobs.
The casino section will open September 1, 2018, followed by the hotel on September 15. The entire project is expected to be completed by December 31, 2018. Wren said, ““It’s certainly important to us to be able to take this little gaming hall that we have right now and transform it into something completely wonderful and exciting, not only for us but for the community as well. Visitors will be able to stay at the property, have a gaming experience, have a hotel experience and then come into Marquette and to be part of that whole wonderful scene that’s going on, especially in the downtown area.”
Wren added if major entertainers perform at the property, casino officials will “work with the local police departments to ensure that we have people out there to help direct traffic, and that, in addition to the turning lanes we’re putting in, I think we’ll be pretty good from a traffic standpoint.”
The Baraga casino improvements are expected to be completed in March 2018. Upgrades include new heating and cooling units and smoke-control equipment.
Meanwhile, the KBIC recently made its biannual revenue-sharing payment of $1.3 million in gaming revenue with state and local entities. Under its state gaming agreement, the tribe shares 2 percent of slot machine net win with local governments; as a result, $253,249.06 went to Baraga County and Marquette County. The tribe also made a payment of $1.03 million to the state, representing 8 percent of slot machine net win.
