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Future of Glacier Park Lodge casino uncertain

Susan Gallagher

Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2004 | 9:07 a.m.

HELENA, Mont. -- The Blackfeet Indian Tribe is pleased with the trial run of a casino at a hotel next to Glacier National Park, but the hotel management sees slim odds the operation will continue next season.

The casino did not appear to draw much business and it clashes with the image of a vacation at the neighboring park, the chairman of the hotel company said Tuesday.

"I didn't think about the image of the national park when I did it (agreed to the casino)," said Joseph Fassler, chairman of Glacier Park Inc., which operates the historic Glacier Park Lodge just outside Glacier's eastern boundary and on the Blackfeet reservation. "Afterward I realized it was sending the wrong signal."

The tribe installed 30 Rocket Bingo machines, resembling slot machines, for the 2004 summer tourist season at the lodge. Fassler, whose company also operates hotels and services within the park as a concessionaire, said he agreed to make space available for lease out of a desire to help the Blackfeet reservation economically.

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