Three card rooms in La Center, Washington, fear that their days are numbered as the Cowlitz Indian Tribe prepares to break ground later this year on a large casino resort that will be near Interstate 5.
The tribe just signed a contract for site preparation on 152 acres that was recently put into trust for the tribe by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Currently one of the most profitable card rooms in the state, the Palace Casino, operates in La Center, where it has been in business for ten years. For several years the Palace was the most lucrative card room in Washington bringing in more than $2.34 million annually. However, in 2013 it reached its zenith. It still does considerably better than its rivals, the New Phoenix and Las Frontier, each a short distance down the street.
Although the Palace continues to be very profitable, that could end once the Cowlitz tribe opens its casino resort.
La Center has a population of 3,000, so its card rooms are very important to its economy. Tax revenue from the card rooms provides the lion’s share of the city’s budget. Last year when the Chips Casino closed, the city lost a tenth of its budget.
Dolores Chiechi, executive director of the Recreational Gaming Association, sees further decline for the card clubs. She told the Columbian, “We are operating paper games in a technological world. We’re definitely going to see a further decline.”
