Two American Indian tribes from Oklahoma want to build a $100 million casino in downtown Pueblo, the key executive behind their scaled- back plan said Monday.
Steve Hillard, chief executive of Golden-based investment firm Council Tree Communications, said the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma plan to file a new proposal with the Interior Department in several weeks that would expand on their previous claim that they are the rightful owners of 27 million acres in Colorado, including all major Front Range cities.
The new filing will include a “large set of supplemental claims” and arguments against the Interior Department’s ruling in September that their claim had been settled in 1965, Hillard said.
The tribes initially hoped to build a $150 million casino on 500 acres east of Denver International Airport that could have created up to 10,000 jobs. Hillard said the tribes are no longer focusing on that plan.
Now, they are offering to trade their land claim for permission to build a $100 million casino by the Riverwalk in downtown Pueblo that could create as many as 1,000 jobs, Hillard said.
“On the surface, it looks exciting and it looks like it creates a market for the downtown area,” Pueblo City Councilman Mike Occhiato said. “If it turns about to be a good deal, it would spur economic development in that area.”
Occhiato said the City Council will consider a resolution Monday asking for public input on the proposal.
Hillard said he initiated informal discussions about the project with Pueblo city officials and business owners several months ago.
“There is widespread high interest among the community,” he said.
But the project also has several opponents, including Gov. Bill Owens and casino owners in Cripple Creek, Black Hawk and Central City.
Marc Murphy, general manager and co-owner of Bronco Billy’s Casino in Cripple Creek, said the tribes’ proposed casino would affect casinos in Cripple Creek because they would compete for the same customers.
“The only way it should be allowed is if it was approved through a ballot initiative just like it was through the 1991 ballot initiative,” Murphy said, referring to voters’ approval of limited-stakes gaming in Cripple Creek, Black Hawk and Central City.
Instead of seeking voter approval, Hillard said the tribes can seek a go-ahead from the federal government.
The tribes would need a lawmaker to introduce the settlement in Congress and have it enacted, said George Skibine, director of the Interior Department’s Office of Indian Gaming.
Approval from the Interior Department is not necessary but is important because Congress would seek the department’s recommendation on the claim if it were introduced, Skibine said.
By going that route, instead of seeking voter approval or a settlement with the state, the tribes would not need consent from Owens, who opposes an expansion of gaming.
“It certainly would circumvent the election process in Colorado,” said Dan Hopkins, a spokesman for Owens. “What are they afraid of? All they have to do is go to a vote of the people. Obviously, they think they would lose the election.”
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-820-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.
