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The Seneca Indian Nation announced plans to build a temporary 5,000-square-foot casino with 100 slot machines in Buffalo following a breakdown in talks with the city over a much larger facility.
Seneca President Barry Snyder said the small casino would be built within a year to meet the terms of the tribe's 2002 agreement with the state to open three casinos in western New York.
Plans for a permanent casino will go back to the drawing board after negotiations between the Senecas and the city broke down over the sale of a two-block stretch of city road that splits the casino site.
Without acquiring the road, the Senecas cannot move forward on the $125 million casino and office tower project as planned, Snyder said.
"Unfortunately, this alternative design plan will not create the magnitude of economic benefits _ in terms of jobs and new revenue _ which our grand design would have," Snyder said.
Mayor Byron Brown said Wednesday he would no longer consider selling the street to the nation because the Senecas would not make certain written promises. Brown wanted guarantees from the tribe that half of the expected 1,000 casino jobs would go to Buffalo residents. The city also wanted assurances that the tribe would not add to its sovereign territory in Buffalo by buying additional land.
The Senecas currently operate casinos in Niagara Falls and Salamanca.
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