You could hear the steady roar of heavy equipment racing around a five-piece modular building, bolted together and propped up on wooden blocks. Next to it, a bulldozer cleared trees and pushed dirt.
That was the scene early Monday night at the Eklutna tribe’s new gambling establishment. It was constructed in just four and a half days, a whirlwind pace compared to the decades the tribe has spent trying to get the legal authority to operate it.
It's not quite what many in this neighborhood on the outskirts of Anchorage envisioned and very different from the architectural rendering of the project, produced by Marnell Companies of Las Vegas, the builder and operator of the gaming hall.
Although this patch of acreage near the Birchwood exit off the Glenn Highway still seems like a construction zone, Aaron Leggett, president of the Native Village Eklutna, announced on Monday what he called a “historic milestone” – the first day of operations for the Chin’an Gaming Hall. Chin’an means “thank you” in the Dena’ina-Athabascan language. In a statement, Leggett made a case for the tribe’s haste.
“People may ask why we are moving so quickly,” Leggett wrote. “My community and people have waited decades for this opportunity, and we want to begin generating economic benefits as soon as possible.”
Although the gaming hall is not open to the public yet, it hosted its first patrons on Monday, who entered the building as workers were about to adjust a newly-installed stairway.
The building sits on a Native allotment that a year ago did not have the full Indian Country status required to run a gaming operation.
But last year, the U.S. Interior Department’s solicitor, Bob Anderson, reversed years of policy and gave the tribe the green light to win approval for a casino from the National Indian Gaming Commission. Shortly after the completion of an environmental assessment from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the tribe received a finding of no significant impact on Jan. 16 and was free to move ahead with its project. The document was signed by Bryan Newland, the outgoing assistant secretary of Interior – one of his final acts before the Trump administration takeover.
The tribe didn’t waste any time moving into action. From an aerial photo taken on Jan. 14, there was an empty space on the lot with five modular trailers parked nearby. A week later, it was an entirely different picture.
On Monday at 4:49 p.m., just after President Trump began his second term, Dan Amadon was the first person to put money into an electronic gaming machine. Amadon operates a shop and storage facility next to the new gaming hall and has been supportive of the project. He said he fed the machine some dollar bills and mostly lost his money.
“You put a little in, you get a little out. That’s the fun of it,” said Amadon, who believes the casino is a gamble that will pay off with more commerce for Birchwood. He said the area already has a small airport and shooting range, so it’s a good fit.
But others in the neighborhood, who are unhappy with the project, say they find the rush to build it even more disturbing.
Eight property owners near the gaming hall sued the tribe earlier this year. Their attorney, Don Mitchell, believes this push to open it was no coincidence. Mitchell says it was likely sparked by Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s request to Trump to reverse the Interior Department’s decision, part of a long wish list that Dunleavy submitted to Trump in November. The president granted many of the governor’s requests in a suite of executive orders he signed on his first day in office, but not that one, probably because a new Interior solicitor has not been appointed.
“They somehow think that by opening a symbolic casino – that that will improve their legal position in both the lawsuit and in their future dealings with the Trump administration,” Mitchell said. “And my view is that they’re dead wrong about that.”
Chris Constant serves as co-chair of the Anchorage Assembly and believes the gaming hall will be good for the city’s economy. Along with Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, he submitted a letter of support for the project, and argued it is needed to heal some of the historic injustices to the tribe. Constant said he understands why the tribe is moving quickly to protect its interests, and that it has every right to do so.
“I think they’ve been trying to make this process happen for the better part of two decades. It’s not like this conversation just started,” Constant said. “It’s an act of sovereignty. It’s an act of intentional planting a flag.”
Constant believes that having an operating gaming hall will make it harder for the Trump administration to scuttle it.
The tribe says it wasn’t so much fear of Trump but fear of more delays caused by turnover in administrations. It also wanted to take advantage of a mild winter for construction.
Debbie Ossiander, co-chair of the Birchwood Community Council, lives about a mile from the property. She said she took a lot of time to craft her comments for the BIA’s environmental assessment and was hoping for more discussions about the project with both the tribe and the Municipality of Anchorage.
“I want folks to at least be heard, I would like some kind of response to what I thought were legitimate concerns,” Ossiander said. “Is this going to pollute Peters Creek? Is this going to hurt people’s wells? Are you going to pay attention to Fish and Game guidelines for the salmon run on the creek?”
The tribe says the BIA’s environmental assessment addresses all of these concerns. But Ossiander says it doesn’t replace the need for important dialogue that should have taken place well before the gaming hall went up. But Constant said the tribe has jurisdiction over the property.
“This isn’t something the Assembly authorized, nor could authorize or deny,” he said. “Our role is really to contemplate the impacts and ramifications of the operation on our services and the community around there, and we’ll do our job.”
As a Native allotment, the property is also exempt from state and local taxes. Property owners have raised questions about whether they would bear the burden of upgrading roads and the cost of increased public safety services necessary to accommodate the new gaming hall.
The statement from the tribe says the Native Village of Eklutna has entered into an interim agreement with the municipality to offset the cost of public safety to its property. It also says the building that just went up is only temporary, and construction on the permanent gaming hall is pending. An opening date has been set for 2026.
No alcohol will be served, and no decision has been made yet about whether it will be served at its permanent facility. If the tribe does decide to serve alcoholic beverages, it would seek a state license to do so.
The tribe’s long-term plans call for two restaurants and up to 700 gaming machines. It says once in full operation, its small-scale casino will be an economic lifeline for its tribal members and pump $67 million into the region’s economy and will generate about 400 jobs, both direct and in-direct.
The tribe says it will use its revenues for housing and health care, job training, scholarships, and cultural programs.
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