Tribe adds 180 slots in test of gambling market

Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2000 | 11:02 a.m.

WARROAD, Minn. -- The Red Lake Band of Ojibwe has spent nearly $1 million to build a temporary 180-slot machine addition to its casino as it tests the market for a possible new casino.

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."