Updates were heard regarding four of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe’s enterprises, and among those was S&K Gaming’s update on the planning and projects currently in progress on all three of its properties including KwaTaqNuk Resort, Grey Wolf Peak Casino, and Big Arm Grill and Marina.
Kermit Clary, an S&K Gaming board member, said the planned $21 million Grey Wolf Peak Casino project will be seeing a great deal of construction this summer. The Missoula, Montana facility is expected to be 34,000 square feet at build-out and house 300 gaming machines, a lounge, full-service restaurant, gift shop and an outdoor patio seating for guests to enjoy during the summer. Clary said the casino should produce approximately 50 new jobs once it opens. The tribe anticipates that by late October or early November ,construction will be completed.
The KwaTaqNuk Resort renovation has been in progress since November and is within weeks of completion, according to Clary. He said, “That’s been a long over due renovation we’ve been talking about for a number of years. It’s really going to update our property and help us compete well with other properties and the new hotel that just went up in Polson,” according to the Char-Koosta News. The renovation includes the addition of 64 rooms on the facility’s south wing, a guest laundry, and fitness room.
The boat docks at the Big Arm Grill and Marina are in the process of being updated and Clary told attendees that once the facility, which is on fee property, is turned into trust status the plan is to have a small casino there with 30 or more machines. The timeframe for the trust transition is this spring.
Clay also announced that all of the loans secured by S&K Gaming from the tribes have been paid in full. The loans include $500,000 for a parking structure and a $2.4 million loan to remodel Grey Wolf when it first opened. The last loan to be paid off was for $700,000 to repair the KwaTaqNuk Resort’s parking structure.