Last month the St. Croix Chippewa broke ground on a new million casino near Hertel, Wisconsin, a casino that will replace its existing Little Turtle Hertel Express Casino.
The ceremony included VIPs such as state senators and assemblymen, county supervisors and a representative of the National Indian Gaming Commission.
The casino is planned to include 250 slots, a restaurant that can seat 50, a convenience store/gas station, smoke shop, RV park and 850-seat amphitheater.
Critics accuse the tribe of violating the spirit and intent of its tribal state gaming compact, which was signed and adopted in May 2003. That was actually an amendment to an earlier 1991 compact. The new language put restrictions on new or expanded operations at the existing Little Turtle Hertel Express Casino.
It specifies that, “The Tribe may continue to conduct Class III gaming at the Little Turtle Hertel Express, 4384 State Highway 70, Hertel, WI, 54845, but only so long as that facility is operated for commercial purposes other than gaming, and no more than 50 percent of the square footage of a facility on a 1-acre lot at 4384 State Hwy. 70, Hertel, WI, 54845, is used for gaming purposes.”
Opponents of the new casino note that the compact’s intent was to restrict the casino to the original site, not a quarter mile away near Highway 70.
They also note that the 2003 amended document specified that the tribe “shall limit use of electronic games of chance at locations other than its current facilities in Danbury and Turtle Lake to no more than one location, which is currently the Little Turtle Hertel Express. The number of electronic games of chance permitted at this location shall be limited to the number of electronic games of chance in operation at this location on the date of this agreement.”
The state’s Department of Administration has written: The DOA is aware of the casino expansion. The casino expansion is happening on Indian lands. The land is eligible for gaming.” Later it clarified that the compact’s existing language allowed it to build at the new location.
