FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2008

$31 million loan will fund new Red Lake Band of Chippewa casino project

by Walter Kovacs
Minnesota

A $31 million has been granted to the Red Lake Band of Chippewa from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community will fund a new 65,000-square-foot casino and hotel along state Highway 89 on the southern border of their reservation.

The $21.7 million Red Lake Seven Clans Casino and Hotel is already under construction, and is scheduled to open in late 2009. The new structure will replace the current casino at Red Lake that opened 15 years ago.

The new casino, seven miles closer to Bemidji, will have 270 slots machines, an all-suite hotel with 40 fireplace suites, a restaurant, an event center and a swimming pool. The old casino will be refurbished for the tribe's government educational purposes.

The remaining $9.2 million will be used for the Red Lake Regional Justice Complex and a greenhouse. The 56,378-square-foot Justice Complex will open in early 2009 and will house the tribal police department, court system, adult detention center and a juvenile detention center.

The greenhouse, a 21,120-square-foot complex, will be operational by the 2009 growing season and capable of growing 1 million seedlings per year. This will almost double the ability of the tribe's current greenhouse.

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