The Kalispel Tribe of Indians has launched a $6.9 million expansion of its Northern Quest Casino in Airway Heights, and has bought 140 acres of land a block west of the casino for future development.


Separately, the 340-member tribe is building a wastewater-treatment facility at a 78-acre planned business-park site on its reservation near Cusick, Wash., about 65 miles north of Spokane. The various projects are largely the result of successful gaming operations at the tribes casino, tribal representatives say.


Curt Holmes, director of public and governmental affairs for the tribe, declines to say how much revenue the casino brings in annually, but says the casino pays $1.7 million a year in sales and property taxes, has a monthly payroll of $1.2 million, and buys $600,000 worth of goods and services each month.


In the expansion, the tribe is adding nearly 36,600 square feet of floor space to its 2-year-old, 55,000-square-foot casino. Work on the project began three months ago, and its expected to be complete by Christmas.


The casino expansion will include 11,000 square feet of additional casino floor with room for 300 new games, as well as a 6,600-square-foot events center with seating for 500. The events center will be used for concerts, receptions, seminars, and other public functions, Holmes says. Offices, a conference room, and a back-room area also are being added.


The $6.9 million figure covers construction, but not the cost of additional gaming machines. The tribe declined to disclose the overall project cost.


The Worth Group, of Reno, Nev., is the architect for the casino expansion, and Womer & Associates Inc., a Spokane architectural and engineering firm, is assisting the Worth Group on the project, Holmes says. Kraus-Anderson Construction, of Minneapolis, is the general contractor. Meridian Construction Management Inc., of Spokane, is overseeing the project for the tribe.


The casino expansion will create 40 new jobs, Holmes says. The casino currently employs about 580 people.


The events center eventually will replace a large outside tent that the casino has been using as a temporary events facility, Holmes says.


The current expansion might be the first of several phases, he says. The tribe is considering future expansion of banquet facilities, the addition of an arcade, and of a family-oriented area with a separate entrance to the buffet restaurant, he says. Currently, no one under 18 years old can enter the casino.


Land purchase


The tribe says it doesnt plan to use for the casino expansion any of the nearby 140 acres it bought. The land lies between the casino and the Airway Heights Corrections Center.


Tom Lien, director of planning and development for the tribe, says the acquisition occurred in early October, but the tribe hasnt solidified plans for that land.


I cant say what were doing yet because its too new, Lien says.


The tribe held meetings this week and last to discuss possible uses of the property and is considering moving the Camas Institute, which is currently located in various offices in Airway Heights, to the property, Lien says. The Camas Institute is an educational center that provides vocational and occupational training, community services, Indian culture courses, and general educational development (GED) preparation and testing to tribal members.


We might use 10 acres for the Camas Institute, locating it there, Lien says. We would do more of a campus environment . As for the rest of it, we just need to get the infrastructure donewater, sewerso we can market the property for commercial development.


Although talk of a possible hotel surfaced when the tribe built the casino, Bonga says he doesnt anticipate that the tribe will build a hotel there.


If we were going to build a hotel, we would put it on the 40 acres of land that the casino is on, Bonga says. We already have water and sewer there. Its already on (tribal) trust land.


The 140-acre parcel is neither trust land nor part of reservation land.


Bonga says that while its too early to say how the 140 acres will be used, a distribution center could be built there. He says there arent any plans currently to develop housing there.


Reservation business park


The tribe began developing the $800,000 wastewater-treatment plant in the 78-acre business-park site north of Cusick four months ago and expects to complete the project by late spring. The project has the potential to help create 200 new jobs in the next five years, Lien says.


The tribe established the business park in 1978, Bonga says, but without an adequate infrastructure, the tribe has done little with the space and the property has remained mostly vacant.


Now, with the wastewater-treatment facility, businesses and people can start moving onto the business park area, Bonga says.


The tribe hasnt determined where the actual building sites will be, Bonga says. Were thinking of moving tribal offices and support programs to some buildings that are currently there.


Tribal representatives say more definite plans for the business park and the Airway Heights property should be in place next month.