A public hearing recently was held in the Village of Mackinaw City, Michigan on the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians’ proposed casino, to be built on its trust land at the former Thunderfalls Water Park. The Class II or Class III gaming facility with 64 machines would open in 2016, with a possible RV park in 2017. The following year the casino would expand to 200 machines, plus 200 more added in 2020. The project would create 80 new jobs, and if all phases of the plan take place, generate an estimated 0,000 in annual revenue for the village.
Under the tribe’s gaming compact, which only governs Class III casinos, the village would receive 2 percent in revenue from the facility’s gross profits. It would not receive any revenue from a Class II facility. Local approval is required for a Class III operation which would allow craps, blackjack and roulette. In 2003 village officials rejected a tribal application for a casino north of the proposed site.
