Pechanga Resort and Casino, the largest casino resort of the West Coast, just got a while lot larger. The Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians last week drew the curtain back on the resort’s $300 million expansion.
A ribbon-cutting and celebration brought together tribal officials and local officials to open the hotel that has 568 AAA Four Diamond rooms, a 4.5 pool complex, additional dining, a luxury spa and an event center: The Summit. Rocker Steven Tyler helped christen the facility with a concert.
The pool complex, called the Cove, and one of the restaurants, won’t open until next week.
Matt Rahn, the mayor of Temecula, which is adjacent to the reservation, noted that the expansion would generate $550 million in economic activity, plus 3,000 construction jobs and 560 permanent jobs.
“Beyond that, this is an important opportunity for even our local businesses,” said the mayor. “Pechanga invests and purchases roughly $25 million-worth of goods and services directly from the merchants within our own city and since 2002 has provided over $26 million to the city of Temecula for road improvements and public safety services.”
Kimberly Adams, chief executive officer of Visit Temecula Valley said the tribe donates funds to promote tourism and works with her group.
“Pechanga’s group sales team works with us hand in hand in efforts to try to bring more people here to Temecula and show them what our destination has to offer,” she said.
Tribal Chairman Mark Macarro said he remembered when the casino opened in 1995 in a series of trailers and tents. The money at first was modest and was used for tribal programs such as providing reliable drinking water. Today it helps pay for a college education for any tribal student who wants one.
He declared, “Most people will see this building and see a resort that’s made of brick and mortar but to us it represents so much more than that.” He continued, “It represents the ability to protect our cultural resources, things like Pu’eska Mountain and the Great Oak Tree. It represents the ability to protect everything we laid the groundwork for — our infrastructure, our tribal utility, funding for scholarships, revenue for providing health care, funding for our fire department and so much more.”
