The Spokane Tribe of Indians is well underway with a construction project that will nearly double the size of the current three-year-old, 26,000-square-foot casino, just west of Airway Heights.

The expansion will have more than 20,000 square feet of new gaming space—including space dedicated to sports betting—and an additional restaurant at the casino. The project also involves doubling the size of Whaluk’s, the current casino-floor bar.

Las Vegas-based Warner Gaming LLC is overseeing the expansion project. The Spokane office of Swinerton Inc. is the project’s general contractor. Swinerton also built the first portion of the casino, located at 14300 U.S. 2.

Although the recent expansion has been referred to commonly as the “second phase” of the overall $400 million Spokane Tribe Economic Project, tribal Chairwoman Carol Evans says tribal leaders and economic planners have shied away from that description.

“What we’ve had to do is break it down into smaller developments,” Evans says of the entire project’s scope. “There are so many outside forces that are having an effect on it at this time that trying to categorize the work in phases really wasn’t practical.”

The arrival of the pandemic altered the approach to development, she says, adding that development at the site will be conducted in more piecemeal fashion moving forward.

Start of construction on the expansion was delayed until the end of 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns. During that time, the cost of building materials increased, she says.

“We wish we could be further along, but it just wasn’t possible,” she says.

The addition currently is scheduled to be completed between late fall and end of the year. The project is creating 300 construction and casino jobs, Evans says. 

Ultimately, the tribe’s economic project is envisioned to include a casino-resort complex, retail space, tribal cultural space, and fire and police stations.

The tribe broke ground on the original casino project in November of 2016.

The Spokane Tribe has roughly just under 2,900 members. The tribe’s primary government operations are located in Wellpinit, Washington, about 40 miles northwest of Spokane, on the Spokane Indian Reservation.