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Since June, gamblers at the Kewadin Shores Casino and Hotel in the Upper Peninsula have enjoyed the amenities of a new $36 million resort -- restaurants, a stylish lounge, an indoor pool -- overlooking picturesque Horseshoe Bay on Lake Huron.
But what they haven't been able to enjoy is the centerpiece of the resort: a 29,070- square-foot casino with 800 slot machines and 26 gaming tables.
A portion of the new casino was mistakenly built on land on which the U.S. government says Indian gambling is not allowed.
As the casino sits empty, debate lingers among the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians about who is responsible for the blunder. The tribe's current and former chairmen blame each other. And as the tribe works quickly to build a $2.5 million tent-like substitute casino, some hold slim hope that the federal government will eventually let the tribe use the vacant hall for gambling.
"It wasn't until after we had the pilings and foundation in place that we realized that something wasn't right," said Aaron Payment, chairman of the Sault tribe. "We did another survey and found that all but 30 feet of the casino was on ineligible land."
Indian casinos big business
The success of Michigan's Indian casinos spurred the Sault tribe to seek a bigger piece of the gambling pie by replacing its 21-year-old casino with the multimillion-dollar casino-hotel resort. The three-story hotel includes 81 rooms, two restaurants and a lounge.
Indian casinos are big business in Michigan. There are 17 Indian casinos throughout northern Michigan, and two are slated to open in the next two years in southern Michigan. The state's Indian casinos grossed $983 million in 2005, up 2 percent from the year before.
The Sault tribe's five casinos in the Upper Peninsula drew 3.7 million visitors in 2005. Kewadin Shores Casino and Hotel, 10 minutes from the Mackinac Bridge, attracted 1.1 million gamblers. The Sault tribe also owns Greektown Casino in Detroit, which is a commercial casino and is not on Indian grounds.
Pointing fingers
Among the Sault tribe, there is debate about who is to blame for the construction error.
Payment blames former tribal chairman Bernard Bouschor, who he accused of changing the location of the new casino without telling anyone. Payment replaced Bouschor as chairman in July 2004 after a bitter election. The men haven't spoken since.
Bouschor, who now sells insurance in Sault Ste. Marie, said the problem with the location was identified as early as 2003 and a tribal attorney was working on rectifying the issue.
"Payment knew about the problem before I left office and has had 2 1/2 years to work it out," Bouschor said. "Payment signed off on the final design plans and awarded the construction contracts. It wasn't me. It was a nice try by him to blame me, but I don't accept any responsibility for his screw-up."
Bruce Greene, a Colorado attorney who specializes in Indian issues and represents the Sault tribe, said any blame should be placed on the National Indian Gaming Commission, which dragged its feet in determining whether a portion of the casino was built on ineligible land. The association didn't issue a ruling until the casino was nearly 80 percent completed in February.
Greene said he never expected there would be a problem with the location, although the casino was moved about 100 to 200 feet from its location on the original site plan. Only a 32-foot corner of the casino was built on land deemed eligible for gambling, but the entire casino gaming area is unusable under federal law.
"Nobody seems to want to listen to us in Washington," Greene said. "I don't think we have a choice but to go to court."
The National Indian Gaming Commission has maintained that the property did not meet the requirements for gambling and recommended in a letter in October 2004 that the tribe not begin construction until the land question was resolved.
Dispute could take years
The federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 dictates where Indian casinos can be located and specifies when property acquired by Indian tribes qualifies for gaming use. Generally, Indian land obtained before 1988 is eligible.
In the Sault tribe case, they obtained some of the property before 1988 and some after, although all of it is in a Sault Indian trust. Payment said the tribe applied for reservation status for some of the land before 1988, but the process was never completed.
"The land does not fit the definition of gamble land under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. We can't waiver a legal definition," said Shawn Pensoneau, a spokesman for the National Indian Gaming Commission.
But Payment and the tribe are pushing ahead, planning to appeal the commission's decision to federal court. Even so, they concede the dispute could take years to resolve.
St. Ignace backs tribe
The 25,650-square-foot tent-like casino is expected to open in two to three weeks. Meanwhile, the tribe's older, decaying casino is still open for gambling. Patrons are shuttled about 500 feet from the facility to the hotel and food service facilities.
Payment said the tent-like structure was selected because it could be put up in a few months. The building was constructed of metal and wood structural beams with heavy flexible material stretched over the outside. The building is insulated and the inside looks like any windowless casino.
While not as convenient to the hotel and restaurants as the unusable casino, Payment said the structure is a workable solution until the land issue can be resolved. Payment said the vacant casino was used this summer for concerts and will continue to be an entertainment venue.
St. Ignace officials support the tribe.
City Manager Eric B. Dobson said the Sault tribe has been an excellent neighbor and has contributed to the city's police and fire departments. The casino brings valuable tourists to St. Ignace at a time when the economy is struggling, he said.
"The city and its people in it have promised to do whatever we can to help Kewadin Shores Casino with its land dispute," Dobson said.
"If we need to meet with the U.S. Department of Interior to help convince them of the important relationship between the city and the tribe, we will do that."
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