As published earlier this month by the Cheney Free Press, the Spokane Tribe of Indians plans to break ground on a new hotel in Chewelah this summer.

That publication also reported the tribe has announced plans to begin construction soon on the second phase of its casino in Airway Heights. 

Construction on the $40 million first phase of the casino project began in November 2016, and the facility opened at the start of 2018 along U.S. 2, on the west edge of Airway Heights.

At an event marking the two-year anniversary of the casino’s opening, Spokane Tribe chairwoman Carol Evans told an audience that the tribe has issued requests for proposals for construction of the hotel in Chewelah, the paper reported.

Chewelah, with approximately 2,600 residents, is roughly an hour’s drive north of Spokane via U.S. 395. The town is also about 63 miles from the Canadian border.

“It fits the size of the market feasibility for that area,” Evans is quoted in the Free Press as saying of the planned 70-room hotel. “When we build, we build fast.”

As previously reported by the Journal, the tribe’s casino is the first phase of a projected $400 million Spokane Tribe Economic Project that’s envisioned to include a casino-resort complex, retail space, tribal cultural space, and fire and police stations.

At the celebratory event earlier this month, Spokane Tribe council secretary Tiger Peone said the expansion of the casino will nearly double its current 38,000 square feet.

The second phase will add a food court, sports bar, nonsmoking area, and an entertainment venue that will seat upwards of 1,000 people, says the Free Press.

The casino currently has about 260 employees, the paper reports.

The Spokane Tribe has about 2,900 members. The 160,000-acre Spokane Indian Reservation is 40 miles northwest of Spokane.