Construction continues on the Four Winds Casino in South Bend, Indiana. Photo: Construction Cam

Openings & Closings

Pokagon Band on track to open first gaming facility in Indiana in January 2018

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians continues to make major progress on the first-ever tribal gaming facility in Indiana.

The Four Winds Casino in South Bend is scheduled to open in January 2018, The South Bend Tribune reported. Local media got a tour of the 175,000 square-foot facility on Wednesday.

"For the last 200 years we've been fighting to keep what we have in the last 22 years we've had a plan to acquire land back in to build a base for our tribal citizens,” Chairman John Warren said, WSBT reported.

Indianz.Com on Google Maps: Pokagon Band Gaming Facilities in Michigan and Indiana

The Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the land-into-trust application for the 166-acre site last November. Unlike the one for the tribe's first casino in Michigan, which opened 10 years ago this month, no lawsuits have been filed to block the acquisition.

The tribe operates three casinos under the Four Winds name. All are located within the tribe's service area, which was defined by Congress through the Pokagon Restoration Act of 1994 and which covers 10 counties in Michigan and Indiana.

Read More on the Story:
Sneak peek of partly finished Four Winds Casino in South Bend (The South Bend Tribune August 22, 2017)
Four Winds offers a look at new South Bend casino (WSBT August 22, 2017)

Federal Register Notices:
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana (November 29, 2016)
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians Fee-to-Trust Transfer for Tribal Village and Casino, City of South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana (March 12, 2015)
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Pokagon Band Tribal Village Fee-to-Trust Acquisition and Casino Project in the City of South Bend, St. Joseph County, IN (August 24, 2012)