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TOPPENISH, Wash. ? The first phase of a $90 million project to expand Legends Casino is expected to begin next week with the construction of a day care center for casino workers.
On Friday, Yakama tribal leaders, members and casino workers and their children gathered at the site of the new day care center, just west of the casino near Robbins and Fort roads to bless the ground before construction begins on the 12,000-square-foot facility.
Prayers were spoken and traditional songs were sung as a dozen children, clad in colorful regalia, danced to the beat of a deer-skin drum.
Afterward, the children were given small garden shovels to pierce the sand in a nearby sandbox ? a ceremonial ground-breaking by those who will benefit from the new building. But a few of the kids wouldn?t let loose of the shovels, and decided to dig for a while.
?We don?t need a contractor, we?ll let them do the digging,? casino Assistant Manager Arlen Washines said with a laugh.
The new day care will replace modular buildings in use behind the casino, he said. The current day care holds up to 30 kids at a time, while the new one will hold more than 70.
The casino expansion means more job offerings and increased need for child care, Washines said, though he added the center was needed anyway.
?We were going to do this no matter what,? he said. ?Our children needed a better place.?
The overall project consists of a 200-room hotel and a gaming floor expansion that would add another 200 slot-style gaming machines and free up the events center for entertainment. The target completion date is July 2014.
The tribe?s goal is to create a destination resort that will attract visitors from across the country and globe.
He hopes to work with local golf courses, wineries and other tribes, such as the Umatillas and Warm Springs, to devise entertainment packages that offer patrons options of touring other tribal casinos and activities beyond gaming.
?Whoever wants to work with us,? he said. ?It?s just an idea.?
Once the day care center is erected, a crew will immediately begin construction on the 65,000-square-foot hotel. ?Right now, our market is only a 50 mile radius, so if we build a hotel, our market will be worldwide,? Washines said.
The final phase of the project will see the front of the casino?s main gaming floor expanded by 33,000 square feet and the restoration of the events center, which now serves as part of the gaming room.
In an effort to expand gaming, the tribe in late 2004 moved hundreds of slot-style machines into its 28,000-square-foot events center.
Those slot machines will be moved into the expanded area of the gaming floor, and the casino?s overall number of gaming machines will grow from about 1,400 to 1,600.
Once the entertainment center is restored, concerts will return and boxing and mixed martial arts matches, and maybe even indoor rodeos and car shows will be held.
?With just gaming, it?s limited,? Washines said.
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? Phil Ferolito can be reached at 509-577-7749 or at pferolito@yakimaherald.com.
Article source: http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2012/09/07/tribe-dedicates-land-for-casino-day-care-center
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