After
lengthy power struggle, redone facility is back with a
Vegas attitude
Hundreds of new slot machines sat unplugged and out of
harm's way last week as construction workers scurried to
put finishing touches on the cavernous new Kickapoo
Lucky Eagle Casino, the state's only legal gambling
house.
The
glitzy machines soon will be flashing and jingling as
the 100,000-square-foot facility, with high-stakes poker
parlors and a boxing arena under the same roof, debuts
to the public Oct. 7.
That
"soft" opening will be followed by a grand opening Oct.
28 — the second anniversary of the Kickapoo Traditional
Tribe of Texas' revolt against leaders who were accused
of mismanaging the casino after its opening in 1996.
"Oct. 28 is a very interesting date. That's when the
tribe took over in 2002," said Kendall Scott, a Kickapoo
who serves as casino marketing director.
After a bitter power struggle culminated a year ago with
court-ordered tribal elections, the prevailing faction
pushed for completion of the long-planned casino
expansion. With the project nearly complete, leaders are
contemplating a 400-room hotel on the reservation, about
10 miles southeast of Eagle Pass.
They're also hoping Texas lawmakers, who might mull over
new gambling options to increase state revenues for
public schools next year, will authorize the tribe to
conduct Class 3 games including roulette and dice — if
Texas racetracks are allowed to have video lottery
terminals.
"That's a big if," conceded Ida Gutierrez, another
casino administrator. Even with a pressing need for
state revenues, opposition to new forms of gambling is
strong within the state's GOP majority, she said.
Focusing on the task
So,
the Kickapoos are concentrating on the task at hand —
opening the new casino to replace the squat, drab
facility that has been the Lucky Eagle's cramped
quarters since 1996. That's when it won permission to
offer Class 2 games including slots, poker, blackjack
and bingo.
Since then, the casino has remained in the good graces
of regulators at the National Indian Gaming Commission,
which conducts regular inspections and reviews required
outside audits, officials said.
"The
folks in the field told me they are operating according
to regulations," said NIGC spokesman Shawn Pensoneau in
Washington, D.C.
The
state's two other federally recognized tribes, the
Tiguas of El Paso and Alabama-Coushattas of Livingston,
had Class 2 games until 2002, when federal courts ruled
the casinos were illegal under state law.
Unlike the Kickapoos, who have sovereign-nation status,
the Tiguas and Alabama-Coushattas are governed by the
federal 1987 Restoration Act, which includes a
prohibition against gambling not authorized by the
state.
The
legal battles left the Lucky Eagle as the sole survivor
— a status the Kickapoos relish and exploit.
"We
can compete against Las Vegas. We can," Gutierrez
insisted. "Our arena is state of the art. These guys
went all out."
1,000
slot machines
In
the casino's main room are about 1,000 slot machines and
20 blackjack tables, and two rooms are set aside for
poker. Bars, restaurants and a gift shop round out the
facility, which from the outside looks like a giant
painted drum.
The
arena, which seats 4,000 for boxing and 5,000 for
concerts, already has been used for fights, but a big
card is set for Oct. 15, when fights put together by
DeBella Entertainment and Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy
Productions are scheduled.
To
add a touch of Las Vegas, entertainers such as Groove
Kitty from the MGM Grand Hotel are set to perform for
three months after the grand opening, and officials say
negotiations are under way with several big-name
international performers. And in a bit of a coup, the
Tejano Music Awards, long based in San Antonio, move
here in March 2005 for the 25th anniversary show.
The
tribe isn't required to disclose casino revenues, and
officials declined to do so last week, but it's
obviously a lucrative business.
Bigger
marketing plan
The
remote facility attracts gamblers at all hours of the
day, mainly from the immediate area but also from San
Antonio and nearby Piedras Negras, Mexico.
"Now
that we're opening the new casino, we're going to do a
bigger marketing plan," Scott said. "We're considering
(advertising) from Austin to the Valley and Monterrey,"
he said. Advertising wasn't pushed previously because
visitors usually jammed the facility anyway, officials
said.
Gutierrez said most casino revenue goes toward the
tribe's lingering debts while an undisclosed portion is
raising the standard of living for the tribe, which has
about 500 adult members.
"You
have to understand that most of the money that is coming
in right now has been going to paying off a lot of the
debt that was left. Whatever (other) money is made goes
to the reservation" to provide health care, housing and
other forms of support for tribe members, she said.
There would have been a lot more money for community
projects if the tribe's resources hadn't been
squandered, she said.
Reversal of fortune
"It
was a mess," Gutierrez said, "but it's working out."
She
said the launch of the new casino was stymied by issues
with vendors and contractors who were owed money. When
the power shift occurred, the new leaders found evidence
of unpaid bills, questionable expenditures and little
cash. Acting on complaints from the new leaders, five
federal agencies continue to investigate the allegations
of impropriety.
A
mere $60,000 was left in the till, Gutierrez said.
"There was not a bank anywhere that would even touch
us," she said.
Though the tribe's fortunes have changed dramatically in
the past two years, officials already are talking about
the next money-making idea — a tribal smoke shop.
"We're going to start selling cigarettes, too,"
Gutierrez said. "It's tax-free for Native Americans."
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