Expanded Valley View casino opens
By: QUINN EASTMAN - Staff Writer
SAN PASQUAL INDIAN RESERVATION -- To thumping music and the cheers of San Pasqual tribal members, Valley View Casino opened its newly expanded gaming floor Friday morning.
Valley View, which opened in 2001 on a hill overlooking Valley Center Middle School, is in the middle of a $100 million expansion that will more than double its floor space.
The expansion will bring San Pasqual closer in gaming volume to other San Diego County tribal casinos such as Pala, Barona, Rincon, Sycuan and Viejas, all of which have more slot machines than Valley View's 1,300.
Valley View is part of a wave of North County casino construction that includes Santa Ysabel, whose smaller 349-slot facility opened earlier this week, and expected expansions on the Pala and Pauma reservations."
This is your casino," San Pasqual tribal Chairman Allen Lawson told tribal members. "This is what it's all about."
Lawson recalled the beginning of construction of the original casino on the San Pasqual reservation's rocky hillside several years before. "This was just brush and a couple of burned-out cars," he said.
Valley View's expansion will increase its floor area from 43,000 square feet to around 105,000, according to Joe Navarro, president of the San Pasqual Casino Development Group.
When construction began, the casino had around 575 employees, including at least 85 tribal members or descendants, Navarro said. Since then, the casino has added about 300 people to its payroll, he said.More restaurants -- a steakhouse, a 24-hour noodle house and a dessert cafe -- are scheduled to open later this year, along with a stage where live bands can play, which Valley View did not have before.
The original casino will be remodeled to create the eating and entertainment space. No hotel is planned.In November, the casino opened its six-story, 1,200-car parking structure, whose site was blasted out of the hills. Navarro said he hoped to obtain county permits next year for a 500-car employee parking lot at Valley Center and Lake Wohlford roads.
Valley View now has roughly 1,300 slot machines and plans to expand to its state limit of 1,572 slot licenses, Navarro said.
Last month, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by the San Pasqual tribe calling for the state Gambling Control Commission to issue more licenses for slot machines statewide.
Barely an hour after the old casino closed at 8 a.m., a crowd pushed through the new casino's doors, overlooking the inauspicious date of the 13th.
"Ten minutes after the opening, it's just like it's always been," said Jim Quisquis, Valley View's vice president of community relations, as he looked over the busy gaming floor.
Soon, a line extended from the Player's Club booth almost to the entrance.
"I like it very much," said Escondido resident Frank Fugate as he pushed buttons on one of the video slot machines. "I'm retired and this is my recreation, along with golf.
"When the new casino was opened, sculptor Johnny Bear Contreras unveiled three larger-than-life bronze statues of traditional "bird singers" who stand in a fountain pool near the entrance.
The dancers, shown wearing a dress, jeans and cowboy boots and a loose T-shirt, respectively, represent three generations of San Pasqual Indians, Contreras said.
Contreras, a San Pasqual tribal member, has crafted sculptures for the city of Poway, St. Stephen's Catholic Church in Valley Center and the Grant hotel in San Diego.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/14//news/inland/3_02_004_13_07.txt
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