Akwesasne Mohawk Casino breaks ground on $74M expansion project

The Akwesasne Mohawk Casino officially broke ground on their $74 million expansion project yesterday. This expansion project is projected to create over 350 construction jobs over the next 20 months as they build a 150-room hotel, relocate the Mohawk Bingo Palace and Class II gaming facilities to the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino and add other amenities to their services.

“This is a historic occasion where we will be creating job opportunities here in the North Country like we haven’t seen in a number of years and we are proud that the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe is a part of that,” said Tribal Chief Mark Garrow. “Success of any business is reliant on those workers and clientele – we have a good marriage between the two and we will continue to see growth that all of us will benefit from.”

It should take approximately 18-months to build the hotel outlined in this project and there will be numerous non-gaming positions created in areas like hotel management, sales, catering and housekeeping to name a few. Although there will be a background check required for these positions, it will not be as in-depth as the one needed to maintain a gaming license.

“This will be the first time in the gaming history of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe that both gaming facilities will be located in one building,” said Tribal Chief Ron Lafrance Jr. “We have a tremendous product that will only get better once they are under one roof.”

The Mohawk Bingo Palace will be moving into the current Cascades section of the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino in approximately a year from now. The Mohawk Bingo Palace will be maintaining their own separate identity that their guests have become familiar with, most notably the family atmosphere. All of the associates from the Mohawk Bingo Palace will stay the same and even the Palace Café will be established in the new location. One major benefit of the move to the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino site is that the Class II machines will now be able to use an accounting system that will enable them to track usage and provide promotions similar to the Winners Club Cards at the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino.

Additional services that will be provided through the expansion project include the creation of meeting/conference rooms, Casino floor expansion, spa and pool facilities, fitness area and additional seating at the restaurants.

“Staff are pretty jazzed and excited about everything,” said Pat Bassney the General Manager of the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino. “We will be creating a lot of construction jobs that are out to bid now and once the hotel is up and running there will be more created there.”

From 2003-2010 the Akwesasne Mohawk Gaming has generated $79.1 million in revenue. The Akwesasne Mohawk Gaming Community Partnership Program was formed in 2006 to give the SRMT a system to follow to funnel gaming revenue to community charitable causes. In 2009-2010 $520,000 was allocated through the Partnership fund for activities like the Akwesasne International Powwow, Akwesasne Winter Carnival and the Akwesasne Boys & Girls Club. In 2010, $11,207,819 was used towards Tribal Program Support to offer services such as Tribal Courts, Food Distribution and Office of the Aging – Seniors. The gaming enterprises in Akwesasne are helping to build the Akwesasne Community through self-reliance.

“It is nice to reflect on the humble beginnings and how it all started as a very modest facility,” said Michael Lettig the National Executive for the Native American Financial Services at Key Bank. “This achievement resonates the commitment of the leadership at the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe…operations like this have a positive impact and will leave a lasting impression on the economic vitality of the area and demonstrate to the private sector what an informed Tribal leadership can do.”