After many years of waiting, the 2,900 member Spokane Tribe will open its new $40 million 38,000 square foot casino this week on 145 acres along U.S. Highway 2 near Airway Heights, and adjacent to the Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington state.
The casino has 450 slots and 12 gaming tables. The décor is heavy on cultural themes, and names in the tribe’s native tongue, Salish, with lots of wood and historic photographs. Some chronicle its history of living along the river and fishing for salmon.
The casino’s Three Peaks Kitchen and Bar is named after Mount Spokane, Steptoe Butte and Cayuse Mountain, which approximately contain within their points the three million acres of the tribe’s ancestral homeland. The deli, Speelya’s Den, is named for the Salish word for coyote.
Tribal Chairman Carol Evans commented, “We want to provide opportunities,” adding, “We want to give our young people the tools to help them succeed.” Unemployment on the reservation is about 50 percent and there a few housing options. With the money generated by the casino the tribe hopes to build a better clinic, create scholarships for young people and expand cultural programs.
This isn’t the tribe’s first casino. It currently operates the Two Rivers Casino near Davenport and a smaller casino in Chewelah. However, when the neighboring Coeur d’Alene and Kalispel tribes opened their own casinos near Spokane, Spokane tribal revenues fell. This led to the tribe acquiring land near Airway Heights, and in 2006 requested that the Bureau of Indian Affairs put the land into trust, for an off-reservation casino. Despite being off-reservation, the land is part of the tribe’s traditional homeland, called West Plains.
Spokane tribal Chairman Carol Evans told the Spokesman-Review, “West Plains is where we fought one of our few wars in 1858, the Plains War. And so, coming full circle we are back in our historical home land, opening a casino. It is a very historical and important day for our Spokane tribal people.”
It took the BIA nine years to put the land into trust, and because it was an off-reservation process, Washington’s Governor Jay Inslee’s assent was required, which he gave.
The Kalispel Tribe, which operates the Northern Quest Resort and Casino in Airway Heights, about two miles from the new casino, opposed the land into trust process. In 2017, it filed a federal lawsuit, claiming the Spokane Casino will erode its revenues.
The location of the proposed casino also stirred up opposition from business leaders and the Spokane County board of commissioners, who feared that the casino might interfere with the flight path of the Air Force Base, enough to force the Air Force to close the base, which would devastate the local economy.
The environmental impact statement prepared for the Spokane Tribe by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, dismissed most of these complaints. It said that some players would move from the Northern Quest to the Spokane Tribe Casino, but said it would remain open. And since the Air Force base cooperated in preparing the impact statement, it didn’t conclude that the casino would interfere significantly with base operations.
The base, which has maintained neutrality on the casino, has worked with the tribe on issues that might impact the base, such as light, glare and hazards to aircraft.
Greater Spokane Incorporated, a group of businesses that at first fought the casino, has dropped its opposition. CEO Todd Mielke told the Spokesman-Review, “We’re beyond the point where those decisions can be rehashed. We trust that everybody will do what they say they will do. The community should be fine.”
The County still opposes the casino and last summer filed a suit in federal court challenging the Department of the Interior’s finding that the casino wouldn’t cause harm to the region. Its argument against centers around the casino interfering with the base’s mission.
The tribe has negotiated annual payments to the city of Airway Heights in return for city services for the casino. This, say city officials, are helping to expand the city’s economy and bring in more business.
The tribe has a $400 million master plan for a hotel, cultural center, retail shopping and an entertainment center. Tribal members refer to the just opened casino as Phase 1A of the master plan.
The Northern Quest and Coeur d’Alene casinos expect to see revenues fall because, they argue, the Spokane market can only absorb so many casinos. “Spokane has a very finite gaming market … and it has plateaued,” says a spokesman for the Kalispel Tribe.
In anticipation of the increased competition the Coeur d’Alene Casino has expanded its loyalty program beyond gaming to include other forms of entertainment.
The Northern Quest has added a hotel, spa and conference space, plus a boutique theater, RV park and arcade.
CEO Francis SiJohn told the Spokesman-Review: “We congratulate the Spokane Tribe and we wish them well. We would love to see them succeed.”
