Truckers nixed from casino plan

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz., March 6, 2008

The Navajo Nation's first casino will feature 400 slot machines, seven stations for table games and 14 bar top game machines, according to a report from the Navajo Gaming Enterprise director.

Director Robert Winter said the casino, slated for construction in Church Rock, N.M., will contain 56,658 square feet of which nearly 15,400 will be devoted to gaming space. The surrounding lot will accommodate 600 cars including employee and valet parking.

The parking lot will not include spaces for 18-wheel trucks, he said, and so will not accommodate commercial truckers.

The information was presented Tuesday in a book-length report to the Budget and Finance Committee.

Currently construction is about one month behind the original schedule but opening day is still slated for July.

The gaming enterprise board and the tribe are ironing out details of a $35 million loan to finance the construction. The enterprise board of directors is expected to approve the agreement during a meeting Saturday. This would give the tribe's Investment Committee more than a week to review the term sheet before the B&F committee is scheduled to meet March 18.

The budget committee - which originally proposed the loan in January in place of a $100 million bank line of credit offer approved by the council last year - has final approval over the loan.

Barring unforeseen delays, the gaming enterprise could have the start-up money for the casino in about two weeks. It would come with little time to spare if the original schedule is to be met, Winter said.

There are several items that must be ordered months before they are even shipped, Winter said. These items will have to be ordered as soon as the money is approved.

Winter said even if the original loan deal had gone through, the weather would have delayed the project anyway.

Included in Winter's report were schematic pictures that detailed where the casino will be built, along Old Route 66 just west of the turnoff to Red Rock State Park.

Early estimates had construction cost at about $25 million.

The casino would include a 100-seat sports bar, food court and retail shops. The Navajo Nation Council voted in January to approve alcohol sales at designated casino sites provided the drinks are served with a meal.

Hoskie Kee (Little Water/Baca-Prewitt/Casamero Lake) noticed the schematics of the program did not include parking or turnaround spaces for large 18-wheeler trucks, as are common at other Indian casinos along Interstate 40.

"This facility is not designed to attract truckers," Winter said. "This is a relatively small casino designed to attract people locally."

If the casino were to expand and cater to truckers, the enterprise would have to foot the bill for a highway interchange to better allow for the traffic, a cost of up to $30 million, Winter said.

Commercial truckers usually make up no more than 12 percent of a casino's business, he said.

"It wouldn't make sense to do that," Winter said of building a new interchange.

Nelson Begaye (Lukachukai/Tsaile/Wheatfields) persisted, saying truckers will come anyway. Some may even go as far as driving into the lot and finding there is no place to turn around, he said.

Winter responded that the enterprise agreed with the New Mexico Department of Transportation to post billboards along I-40 stating that the casino does not have space for large trucks.

The casino will cater to tourists staying in Gallup by offering shuttles to several hotels in the city.

Still, despite all the work and anticipation, Leonard Chee (Birdsprings/Leupp/Tolani Lake) reminded Winter that the Church Rock casino was meant to be a temporary facility, an effort to make enough money to construct a larger permanent building.

Winter discussed possible locations for another casino, including Superman Canyon and Iyanbito, N.M., further east along the interstate. However, both sites have severe land issues that would make construction difficult, if not impossible, he added.

"The Church Rock site covers 21 acres," Winter said. "We may have to consider that this may be the permanent site."