The Cowlitz Tribe of Washington, last week held a ribbon cutting for the first expansion of the at ilani Casino Resort and for the first time flew the Cowlitz flag. To the sound of drums, the tribe raised the flag for the first time. The expansion opened a year after the $510 million casino itself opened; and its $20 million costs were factored into that amount.
The center will offer the largest ballroom in the County, part of a gaming complex that is the largest in the Vancouver-Portland metropolitan area. The casino’s location along Interstate 5 is a force multiplier to those factors.
The tribe’s spiritual leader, Tanna Engdahl declared, “I want you to know that for the drummers here, and for the Cowlitz people here, that the real event was the raising of the Cowlitz flag upon the resting places of our ancestors.”
The ceremony marked the opening of the 30,000 square foot Meeting and Entertainment Center. Cowlitz Tribal Chairman Bill Iyall marked the flag raising with a history lesson on his peoples’ struggles for recognition and land.
The tribe achieved federal recognition in 2000 and acquired land near La Center five years later. That is where the casino, and now the expansion, are located.
The chairman remarked, “It’s been a long 160 years back to our homeland. ilani gives us the opportunity to be self-sufficient. We are proud of what we have achieved.”
Bureau of Indian Affairs regional office director Stan Speaks, added, “It’s been a long journey for the tribe.” He walked with the tribe for more than 30 years of that journey. “Today you can see what has been accomplished in the last 18 to 20 years,” Speaks said.
General Manager Kara Fox-LaRose predicted that the new entertainment center would become “Pacific Northwest’s premiere gaming, dining, meeting and entertainment destination.” She noted that the Cowlitz Ballroom, the largest part of the complex, would include a 22,000 SF space that could be divided into as many as six rooms with 30 different configurations. It can seat 1,000 people in a banquet or seat 2,500 for a concert.
The first concert scheduled was the country western group Little Big Town on April 12.
Former tribal Chairman David Barnett said that the high ceilings and expansive space of the center compared favorably to the garages where he used to attend concerts in the 1980s. “I wanted a better venue for the casino,” he quipped.
The next project will be a hotel, for which a study is already being done, said Fox-LaRose. “We believe we certainly can benefit from a hotel. We understand to maximize that space requires hotel rooms for groups that are coming in and traveling further in, that prefer to stay.” However, there will be plenty of competition already in place: 11 new hotels are in the works for Clark County.
