The Confederated Salish And Kootenai Tribe in Montana is continuing the $21.1 million project to open a new casino near its KwaTaqNuk Resort and expects to inaugurate the facility by the end of the year.

According to a report from The Char-Koosta News, the Gray Wolf Peak Casino near the small town of Evaro in Missoula County will feature at least 10,000 sq ft of gaming space offering a minimum of 300 slots. The 34,000 sq ft development is to additionally include a restaurant, a private dining area and a deli and provide jobs for up to 50 people.

The news comes after the tribe’s gaming arm, S&K Gaming, decided to stop the practice of offering free-play games at its facilities while additionally declining the chance to again sponsor late-August’s INFR Flathead River Rodeo in nearby Lake County due to money concerns.

“Our decision was based on the profit/loss statement,” said Byron Miller from S&K Gaming. “The tribe lost significant revenues on this event. This year will felt we could not afford to lose more money. We knew it would be an unpopular decision [but] as a shareholder we had to make the decision.”

Concerning the cancellation of free-play games, Miller declared that the tribe has made a decision to fine-tune its marketing efforts and target its offers at gamblers that “are 55 years of age or older with disposable income”.

Miller additionally revealed that the group would be looking into the possibility of freshening up its existing gaming machine estate while formulating new advertising and recruitment strategies. He proclaimed that current staff members are looking into a jobs fair for the recruitment of new employees at the Gray Wolf Peak Casino along with associated training schedules.