Earlier this month, the Mechoopda Tribe began the construction phase of a new casino in an area near Chico, California. The site of the casino building is just off Openshaw Road near Highway 99 and 149. The venue being constructed is a temporary one as the tribe prepares to build a more permanent structure in the future.

Moving Forward with the New Casino

With the news of the construction process, it marked the first time that the tribe announced that a full-scale casino would come later. Doug Elmets, a spokesman for the tribe, broke the news with no additional details on what the temporary structure will offer.

The Mechoopda Indian Tribe plans to offer a large California casino consisting of 42,000 square feet with 500 slots and 10 table games. The property will also offer three restaurants. Speculation would lead us to believe that the temporary spot would offer a much smaller number of games until the larger venue is constructed.

In preparation for the new Chico casino, the tribe teamed up with Palace Hospitality, a consulting, development, and management company in February. The tribe plans to work with the company to build the casino from the ground up.

Principal of Palace Hospitality, Michael Olujic, commented that the company looks forward to working with the tribe, sharing their working business model that will create an incredible casino that generates revenue and builds positive relationships with the community.

Long-running Process

The Mechoopda Tribe has waited a long time to get the ball rolling on its casino. The tribe fought with Butte County for over a decade to try and move forward with its casino plans. It was not until August 2018 that the Board of Supervisors in Butte County finally backed the project and Governor Jerry Brown signed a compact agreement with the tribe.

The agreement allows the tribe to offer a Class III gaming license. The compact was signed after a long battle that cost the tribe almost $850,000 in legal fees. The lawsuits were originally filed in 2002 and the right continued through early 2018. The County Board of Supervisors were opposed to the project because they said it was in violation of the general plan.

The board finally gave up after the April 2018 ruling, which led to the eventual signing of the tribal compact. Now that the construction phase is starting, the tribe is one step closer to seeing its long-awaited Chico casino plan come to life.