The Prairie Island Indian Community hosted its Wacipi Celebration from July 8-10, 2016. Photo from Facebook
The Prairie Island Indian Community of Minnesota broke ground on a $86 million casino expansion amid speculation about plans for a new parcel of land. The Treasure Island Resort and Casino will see two new hotel towers with 300 rooms, The Rochester Post-Bulletin reported. The facility will boast a total of 800 rooms, the paper said. The tribe is also expanding the $19 million water park that recently opened at the casino. The new amenity has been drawing more guests to the facility. "It has been beyond our expectations as far as popularity," spokesperson Cindy Taube told the paper. The investments underscore the tribe's commitment to the casino even as its leaders look elsewhere for development. The tribe recently purchased a 112-acre site in West Lakeland Township, about 30 miles away, and speculation is running rampant about what might happen there. But President Shelley Buck said there are no plans to use the land for gaming. It will most likely be used for housing and other types of businesses. "Tribes have businesses from one spectrum to another that have nothing to do with casinos," Buck told The Minneapolis Star Tribune. "When people automatically assume a casino, that's what is offensive to me." The tribe has filed a land-into-trust application for the new site. Get the Story:
Treasure Island to get $86 million hotel expansion (The Rochester Post-Bulletin 7/12)
No casino in the cards for Washington County, tribal president says (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 7/12)
Could a new casino be in store for St. Paul's eastern suburbs? (The City Pages 7/7)
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