Potawatomi want four liquor licenses

Monday, July 17, 2000 | 9:43 a.m.

The license applications are for a sports bar, cabaret and dinner theater and two restaurants.

Some Milwaukee City Council members have expressed concern about mixing alcohol and gambling.

"Somebody may go from the sports bar, out to gamble, come back to the bar and then back to gamble," said Ald. Jeff Pawlinski, chairman of the Utilities and License Committee. "There's an issue of judgment when people drink alcohol and gamble at the same time."

The Potawatomi said alcohol would not be served in the gaming area and patrons would not be allowed to take it outside the restaurants or bar.

"We would certainly want our guests to be responsible in the time they're enjoying a show or meal in our facility, just as any other business owner would," said Linda Sowell, the casino's public relations director.

"We don't see our business being any different from a food and beverage establishment at a hotel or any other restaurant in the city."

Laws requiring liquor licenses ordinarily do not apply to tribal land. However, in a 1990 agreement in which the Potawatomi acquired the Menomonee Valley land, the tribe agreed to seek a liquor license before serving alcohol.

Sowell said most other Indian casinos in the state sell alcohol, many of them on the gaming floor.

The expanded casino, with 250,000 square feet, will have five times the space of the old building when it opens Oct. 1. It will include 25 blackjack tables and 1,000 slot machines.