Friday, 21 October, 2005 12:28 PM

A Romulus casino is in the works

The city of Romulus, Mich. could soon be home to a brand-new casino upon approval. The casino will incude a 200-room hotel with restaurants, shopping and 2,400 slot machines. It will create 3,300 new jobs in Michigan which is vital to our economy.

Kenneth Meshigaud of the Hannaville Indian Community announce the plans at the site of the new casino. It will be located on the northwest corner of Vining and Rick Roads, not far from the airport. The Indian tribe is based up north bear Escanaba.

In the summer, four Indian tribes wanted to build in Romulus. The field has been narrowed down to one since then. It's the Hannaville Indian Community.

Meshiguad said, "We feel it is a good project, a good location, the project is clean and has overwhelming support in the community." He adds, "You have to get your land in trust, and it has to be in trust for gaming purposes, before you can build a casino."

In 2003, Romulus voters approved a new casino for their city. The Casino still needs apprval from the U.S. Interior Department. They have not given permission to build an Indian casino in the last 15 years.

The land at the site of the proposed casino is owned by Sweetwater Gaming of Naples, Florida. The new casino is expected to be worth $243 million.

U.S. Representative John Dingell, D-Dearborn has supported the new casino. Meanwhile, Michigan congressman Mike Rogers R-Brighton opposes the new casino.

If approved, the new casino would create 3,100 construction jobs and 3,300 permanent casino jobs. It would bring in $400 million to the Michigan economy. The casino would pay $5.4 million in income and property taxes.

Who would use this new casino? Mostly, it would be for people who are arriving in the Detroit Metro area via the airport. It would be on their first places to get an impression about the region.

Downtown Detroit casinos

The city of Detroit has three casinos of their own. There is the MGM Grand Detroit Casino, the MotorCity Casino and the Greektown Casino. This new Romulus casino would be about 25 miles west of Downtown Detroit.

Two of Detroit's casinos will be building permanent casinos which will come with a hotel. Licenses to build were granted to MotorCity and Greektown Casino. MGM was the last of the three to receive permission to build a permanent casino within the city of Detroit.

Motor City is going to remain that their current location. They are at the Lodge Freeway and Grand River Ave. They are going to add a 400-room hotel and expand their gaming space. There will also be a theatre, spa, ballroom, and meeting room space. MotorCity expects theirs expansion to be complete by 2008.

The Greektown Casino originally planned to build a new casino. They have changed their minds and have decided to stay in their current location and just expand. The expansion will cost $175 million instead of the $450 million if they were to build a new permanent location.

MGM Grand is going to build it's permanent casino at the corner of Bagley and the Lodge Freeway. The land is being cleared right now. It will cost $575 million to build MGM Grand's permanent home in the city of Detroit.

Bob Berg, a spokesman for MGM Grand Detroit reports, "I know they want to get it done, but they are a very detail-oriented company, so they are trying to make it exactly right." He adds, "In the end, they will invest more in the site than both of the other casinos combined."