Fake pirate ship battles, Egyptian pyramids and medieval jousting may thrill them on the Vegas strip. But
The city's newest gambling refuge already has two NHL-sized ice rinks, overlooked by a sports bar with dozens of brands of beer on tap. Next year, general manager Brian Lee hopes to break ground on two more.
The River Cree Casino and Resort, Alberta's first native casino, already has a four-star hotel and plans for a "high-end" retail complex -- all conveniently located just west of the city limits, 10 minutes from West Edmonton Mall.
Or inconveniently, if you run that mall.
Gary Hanson, the general manager and chief operating officer of
He also has a hotel. Even an ice rink. And retail stores, of course.
What he does not have is a special arrangement with the province allowing him to spend casino revenues on tourist amenities. None of the other casinos or hotels in
That has some
"Casinos in the rest of the
Local casino owners are already cranky about losing gamblers who enjoy a cigarette with their slots: On the Enoch reserve, home of River Cree, where the region's smoking laws don't apply, 30% of the gaming floor is reserved for smokers.
"At our place, if you want to smoke today, and it's 20 below, you have to go outside," says Barry Pritchard, senior vice-president of Casino ABS, which runs
Being out of reach of municipal authorities provides another enviable edge: the River Cree pays no property tax.
"As soon as we open our doors, we're paying $22-million in taxes, where they don't pay anything," Mr. Hanson says. "If we had that opportunity, we'd definitely invest that money into our infrastructure and upgrade it."
But what really alarms hotel and casino operators is
Until now, whenever someone dropped a loonie into the slots at one of
Not so at the new River Cree Casino, where most slot money and all table-game income stays on the reserve. Some goes to social programs. A small portion is made available to First Nations projects elsewhere in
The same deal applies to the Tsuu T'ina nation, which opens its casino on
Investors clearly like the sound of those strategic advantages. The River Cree, with help from Vegas-based partner Paragon Gaming, was built with $178-million raised from
The 33,444-square-metre complex also offers a nightclub and three restaurants featuring the haute interior designs of Elizabeth Blau, whose clients include Vegas's Wynn and Bellagio casinos as well as the Taj Mahal in
Industry rivals concede the Enoch reserve could use an economic boost. But they say creating an unfair competitive environment is not the way to do it.
"This isn't a First Nations issue," Mr. Hanson says. "This is a level-playing field issue."
The Enoch were once among
Crime and addiction are rampant. But despite an aggressive pro-native hiring policy, only 200 residents have taken jobs at the River Cree Casino; there's room for 720.
There is no guarantee the enterprise will solve the rest of the Enoch's ills: U.S. native casinos have a record of leaving reserves worse off, with soaring rates of gambling addiction only complicating social problems.
Edmonton's veteran casino owners are already skeptical that a sixth gambling joint in a city with one of the highest per-capita concentrations of casinos on the continent can earn enough to buy off the growing despair, even with all of its competitive advantages.
But the River Cree is different from its local competitors, notes its manager. With its Vegas-style offering, it is designed to draw gamblers from around
And wait until 2009, when he will add a second hotel, as well as a 2,000-seat live entertainment venue "modelled on The Joint at the Hard Rock casino in Las Vegas," he says.
But Gary Hanson can't help but see some similarities with another theatre -- one he's been planning for his mall for years. "On the drawing board, we have an 8,000-seat multi-use complex," Mr. Hanson says. "But you know what? I can't afford to build it."