Spirit Sands casino officially licensed

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This article was published 29/01/2011 (5340 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Spirit Sands Casino and Resort took another step toward realization on Friday, after provincial and aboriginal leaders formally signed a gaming agreement officially licensing the facility.

"Today is a good day," Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Ron Evans said as he signed the agreement.

The $40-million development, which will be built near Spruce Woods Provincial Park south of Carberry, will be the first casino with profits split between all 64 First Nations in Manitoba. Some of those First Nations will continue to benefit from other Manitoba casinos.

Approval of the gaming agreement between the province and the AMC clears another major hurdle in the project’s development. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of this year.

"Coming to terms on the gaming agreement is an important step in making our vision for a casino benefiting all First Nations in Manitoba a reality. This project has been years in the making, and this agreement really is a major step," Evans said in a news release. "We are moving forward on our pledge to narrow economic gaps in Manitoba society by advancing economic development opportunities for First Nations people."

AMC economic development business analyst Rob Ballantyne called the signing "another milestone in the process" and said that the licence has a 20-year duration.

The Spirit Sands Casino and Resort development is planned to feature a gaming floor with roughly 500 machines, table games, a 100-room hotel, two restaurants and a convention/entertainment facility. It will be located on Swan Lake reserve land next to Highway 5, about 16 kilometres south of the Trans-Canada Highway.

The AMC has completed a 45-year lease with Swan Lake First Nation for use of the land as well as a general services agreement with the band. Ballantyne says environmental studies have also "come back positive."

"We’re checking things off our list and proceeding with development," Ballantyne said. "It’s still our intent to have a structure open within the 2011 calendar year."

AMC gaming committee leader Chief David Crate of the Fisher River Cree Nation says the approval of the gaming agreement is a relief and a victory after months of negotiations.

"We’re pleased to have an agreement with the province. Our success is their success and vice versa. Both sides worked together in good faith to create an agreement that works for everyone, an agreement that benefits all Manitobans, including First Nations," Crate said in a release.

Key figures in overseeing Manitoba’s gaming industry were present at the signing, including Dave Chomiak, the minister charged with the administration of the province’s Gaming Control Act, Winston Hodgins, president and CEO of Manitoba Lotteries Corp., and Rick Josephson, executive director of the Manitoba Gaming Control Commission.

"It is great to see this project continue to move forward. This agreement demonstrates our success in working together in partnership with the AMC to create opportunity for all Manitobans," Chomiak said. "In addition to providing local employment and economic development opportunities, the Spirit Sands Casino and Resort will benefit all Manitoba First Nations."

The casino will be developed and managed by Red Lake Gaming Enterprises, a casino-operating company that has built and currently operates three casinos in rural Minnesota.

Ingenus Management and Consulting, a gaming management and development company from Minnesota, will support Red Lake Gaming Enterprises.