Lansing bets on a casino, but others are betting against it

 Lansing officials have announced plans for a project they say could create thousands of jobs, fatten local revenues and help thousands of school children go to college. But, it could also end up mired in regulatory limbo for years. 

$245 million can be used to build a lot of things. In Lansing, that’s the estimated price tag for a new casino. 

An Upper Peninsula Native American tribe wants to build a 125,000 square foot casino next to Lansing’s convention center, which is in the heart of the capitol city’s entertainment district. The project would create more than 2,000 jobs.   

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians already operates five other casinos, all in the U.P. Joe Eitrem is the tribal chairman. He believes the Lansing market has a lot to offer.   

“People are enthused about it," says Eitrem, "They are not fighting us on it…..it’s just a perfect fit for us."   

About two dozen casinos operating in Michigan, and most are tribal owned. Two of those casinos are already operating within an easy drive from Lansing.  

The proposed Lansing casino is already drawing opposition from competing  tribes.  Two tribes issued a joint statement accusing the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of failing to deliver on past economic development promises.    They also say the state could lose $22 million a year in revenue sharing funds from the two tribes, since a Lansing casino would violate gaming exclusivity deals. They are threatening a lawsuit to stop the proposed Lansing casino.  

Roger Martin is a spokesman for the Sault Ste Marie tribe. He says,  despite the objections,  the Sault Ste. Marie tribe will file paperwork with the U.S. Department of the Interior to take the land into trust by this summer. 

 “We are confident in our legal right to do that under the federal land claim settlement act.  And we’re going to be moving expeditiously to do that," says Martin.  

Richard McLellan is a Lansing attorney who specializes in regulatory issues.   He expects it will take the U.S. Interior Department three to five years to sort out the legal challenges related to acquiring the land in Lansing. McLellan expects,  in the end, the Sault Ste Marie tribe will succeed in getting federal approval. 

But Michigan’s Attorney General’s office plans to fight the casino plan. A spokesman for that office contends the law will prevent the project from moving forward. 

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero is angered by opposition to plans for a new casino in his city.

 “Who are they to say ….they’ve got this and they want to keep it to themselves,"  says Bernero,  "I say it’s Lansing’s turn. We’re the center of the state. Lansing will have a casino. This region will have a casino. The only question is when and where."

 A major selling point for the casino is the potential effect it could have on Lansing city schools.

The casino deal could provide five to six million dollars a year for a college scholarship fund for Lansing school children.   The fund would be similar to the Kalamazoo Promise, which has been credited with reversing years of declining student enrollment in Kalamazoo public schools.

“I think it would certainly…hopefully…have the same impact it’s had on Kalamazoo…in terms of bringing students back into the district," says Myra Ford, president of the Lansing School board. 

But the first lesson the city’s  school children are likely to learn from the casino project is patience, since it may be years before the first game of chance is played in downtown Lansing.