02.21.07

Off-reservation casino 'very long shot'

Tribe faces land trust issues, fight from Detroit competitors, others.

Joel J. Smith / The Detroit News

ROMULUS -- Slot machines won't whirl in Romulus anytime in the near future.

An environmental impact study on the site of a proposed tribal casino will start next month but could take up to five years to complete, according to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.

With the study, opposition from other Michigan casinos and the sponsoring tribe's distance from Romulus, tribal gaming experts say it's highly unlikely the new casino ever will be approved.

The 780-member Hannahville Tribe of Potawatomi Indians, which has a 5,800-acre reservation near Escanaba in the Upper Peninsula, has filed an application with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to build a $250 million casino. The gambling hall and hotel would be on 24 acres at the northwest corner of Vining and Wick roads in Romulus, about half a mile north of Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The proposed complex includes a 200-room hotel, 2,400 slot machines, 90 table games, several restaurants and some retail space. It would employ 3,300 workers.

But the public shouldn't be betting on it for the near future.

"It certainly isn't something that happens overnight," said Scott Doig, an environmental protection specialist with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"With some of these gaming applications, it has taken four or five years to complete. We generally go into it looking at an 18-to-24-month time frame."

In this case, there is expected to be plenty of opposition from the three Detroit casinos as well as other tribes that operate some of the 17 other Indian casinos in Michigan, all of which will drag out the process.

"This is the opening step," said Chris DeWitt, a spokesman for the Hannahville Tribe. "We're pushing ahead, but it's a long, slow process. We're prepared for that."

Because the Romulus tract is off reservation, the tribe has asked the U.S. Department of the Interior to place about 10 acres of the site into a federal trust that could allow an Indian casino.

Experts said this has happened only four other times in U.S. history.

"It's very, very rare," said Jacob L. Miklojcik, president of Michigan Consultants in Lansing, a gaming expert who is representing several tribes outside Michigan trying to get approval for a federal land trust.

"It's highly unlikely it will ever happen. The proposed Romulus casino has a lot of momentum against it. It's a very, very long shot for Hannahville to ever open a casino in Romulus."

The first public hearing will be at 7 p.m. March 8 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 800 Merriman Road in Romulus, north of 1-94 from Metro Airport. The purpose is to identify public and agency concerns and alternatives to consider in the environmental impact study.

Another gambling establishment, Michigan Downs, has been pitched as a neighbor to the airport. The "racino" would feature horse racing as well as casino gambling on a 212-acre site.

Proposed by Magna Entertainment Corp., which operates racetracks throughout the United States, Michigan Downs is on hold because of litigation over how the gaming license was awarded to Magna.

You can reach Joel J. Smith at (313) 222-2556 or jsmith@detnews.com

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