Red Lake Band opens expanded Warroad casino

Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2000 | 10:01 a.m.

The addition, which opened Tuesday, brings the total number of slot machines to more than 500 at Seven Clans Casino-Warroad, formerly known as Lake of the Woods Casino.

If 500 machines aren't enough, as band officials suspect, they will use the profit from the temporary expansion to pay for a new casino, said Red Lake Chairman Bobby Whitefeather.

"We needed to find out how many machines will work," Whitefeather said. "This was the most cost-effective way in the short term."

The new addition was constructed of aluminum and vinyl, mostly temporary building materials. From a distance the structure resembles the roof of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis.

The structure has a life expectancy of 10 to 15 years. Red Lake officials expect a plush, top-of-the-line casino to be built in its place before that.

"The expansion is part of ... our efforts to bring our gaming enterprises to a more competitive stature," Whitefeather said. "We want to capture the moment of Indian gaming."

The band also has its eyes on a more ambitious plan involving its other properties in Warroad. The casino is located only a short distance from Red Lake's Lakeview Restaurant, built two years ago on the south shore of Lake of the Woods. Only a short strip of shore, which the band owns, separates the two entertainment facilities.

In addition, the band recently purchased a 41-room Super 8 Motel across town.

Whitefeather and Tribal Treasurer Dan King said the plan is to market all of the band's Warroad properties as a package - food, lodging and gambling. All the other amenities community offers will be the icing on the cake, they said.

"It seems like we're always under construction, but it will be that way for a while," Whitefeather said. "It's a requirement to keep up with the Indian gaming industry."