Tribe Still Hedging Its Bets Coeur D’Alenes Diversify As Insurance Against Political Risks

The latest lures at the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s casino include a 24-hour restaurant run by a longtime Cavanaugh’s chef, a hugely colorful bingo/concert hall, and off-track betting on horse and dog races.

But while managers plan even more enticements - a motel, golf course, possibly even live horse racing - they can’t take their eyes off the political scene.

The shaky future of the casinos run by the Spokane and Colville tribes, for example, could mean both good and bad news for the Coeur d’Alenes.

If those neighboring tribes lose their battle with Washington state to keep their slot machines, it could mean more customers for the Worley casino.

But in the bigger picture, the Coeur d’Alenes, who have their own legal battles to fight, don’t like to see any tribe lose the right to determine what is best for them.

“Every time sovereignty is challenged and is lost, we lose,” Coeur d’Alene Casino marketing manager Laura Stensgar said this week.

Stensgar sat near the restaurant’s waterfall, not far from the 1,000 flashing pull-tab video machines. She remembered when the casino opened in 1993. There were just three machines then, and the governor was challenging whether the tribe could offer bingo games.

The casino grew into such a success that, three years later, the tribe paid off the building’s $2.9 million mortgage. Schools and tribal social programs were benefiting from the steady profits.

Now, the tribe is putting the finishing touches on a $12 million expansion, including a gas station/mini-mart, all paid for with gambling proceeds.

The casino contains the central gaming area with its 15 kinds of video machines, the High Mountain Steakhouse, and banquet rooms. The bingo hall takes up half of the 120,000-square-foot complex. Boxing matches and concerts are booked there to draw weekday crowds; VIP rooms look down from the second floor.

Four hundred employees, 61 percent of them Indians, keep everything running.

Joined to the casino is the 60,000-square foot headquarters for the tribe’s fledgling lottery operations.

Both the phone and internet lotteries where suspended last week after a U.S. District Court judge ruled them illegal. The tribe probably will appeal the decision, said David Matheson, chief executive officer of gaming.

Judge Edward Lodge agreed with state attorneys general from throughout the country who contend that the lottery gambling does not take place on the reservation.

The Indian Gaming Act allows only on-reservation gambling, which is a big obstacle for remote tribes like the Coeur d’Alenes. Matheson likes to say that a business needs three things: “Location, location, location. And we don’t have any of them.”

The Coeur d’Alenes put their casino as close as possible to area population centers - near the junction of U.S. Highway 95 and Idaho Highway 58. But that’s still 25 miles of two-lane highway from both Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.

About 80 percent of the customers come from Spokane, Stensgar said.

The region’s biggest city offers card games, which aren’t allowed under the Coeur d’Alenes’ gaming compact with the state of Idaho. And the Spokane-area tribes’ slot machines are more appealing to some gamblers than the Coeur d’Alenes’ video version.

“They like to hear the coins drop,” said Stensgar. “A lot of people come here and say, `This is not a slot machine, where are the card games?’ Others come and they like not getting their fingers dirty (with coins).”

Another pro-and-con situation for the marketing manager is the tribe’s decision, so far, not to serve alcohol at the Coeur d’Alene Casino. That keeps some people away, Stensgar said, but attracts others. The casino is one tribal building where smoking is allowed, though.

Visitors here find Nevada-style glitz with a quiet Native American twist. A canoe decorates the steakhouse. A buffalo head design is inlaid on the entry floor.

On weekends, when bingo is played, the tribe offers free bus shuttles from Spokane, Coeur d’Alene and Lewiston. Tour buses come regularly from Whitefish, Mont.; Trail and Castlegar, British Columbia; and, occasionally, Washington’s Tri-Cities.

But the bingo crowd isn’t growing, Stensgar said, so her three-person office is focusing on events. Singer Loretta Lynn was the first entertainer in the new bingo hall. She sold out. Kenny Rogers didn’t; Stensgar blames a shortage of advertising. Without plenty of ads, even a big name may not overcome a long drive on a weekday night.

Come spring, the tribe will break ground on a 90-room motel that will be attached to the casino. A recreational vehicle park is planned, and a 18-hole golf course is on the drawing board. Stensgar talks of offering horseback rides and other off-site tourist attractions.

At the mention of rumors about horse racing on the reservation, Stensgar responded: “That’s a possibility.”

Idaho Gov. Phil Batt shot down the tribe’s earlier notion of adding the distant Coeur d’Alene Greyhound Park to the reservation, for use as a horse track.

Tribal officials hope the casino will evolve into a destination resort. They’re hedging their bets by diversifying beyond the politically volatile business of gambling.

“Who knows where legislation is going?” Stensgar said. “That’s why we’ve been very extravagant in our planning and design.”