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Tribe, Local Businessmen To Put Up Casino In Sioux Falls To Match Iowa’s Lyon County Casino

Posted on April 13th, 2010

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Local business leaders in Sioux Falls, South Dakota have teamed up with the Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe to build a large resort casino within the area of Sioux Falls as their answer to a casino being proposed near the border in nearby Lyon County in Iowa.

Economic studies have anticipated that if the Iowa resort is erected, it would siphon millions of South Dakota dollars each year, aggravating the state’s financial situation that is already facing a serious budget gap.

“I think if Lyon County didn’t exist, it would be a harder thing for the public to accept, but right now, it does exist, and it is going forward,” said David Sweet, the CEO of Hotel & Resort Management and one of the backers of the Sioux Falls casino.

Backers of the plan say the Sioux Falls resort casino would check the expected flow of money to Iowa. The tribe is also open to a profit-sharing scheme with the state and the city, akin to the agreement with Deadwood casinos.

The plan for the $110 million South Dakota casino would include a complex with an 18-hole golf course, two restaurants and a 1,200-seat event center. The casino itself would have about 900 slot machines, 8 poker tables and 24 table games. However, possible complications are also awaiting the Sioux Falls proposal. It would create a major change in the gaming structure that has been established in the state for 20 years, such as the video lottery and the limited gambling in Deadwood and tribal casinos, and opposition from the video lottery industry and gambling critics are likely to arise. Already, the executive director of the South Dakota Family Policy Council, Chris Hupke has said that although he has not yet seen the proposal, but “if it’s something about expanded gambling, we’ve got a real concern.”

The plan would also need to acquire approval from the federal government and from the governor, and it comes at around the time when elections for new governor and mayor are coming up. Through the tribe, the proposal could get approval from the federal government without calling for a Constitutional Amendment. Federal law allows a tribe to build a casino outside their land but within a short distance of the reservation and place that land into trust. But federal approval rests on the governor of the state, and one expert says the governor is in a position to negotiate with the tribe. But the plan’s supporters say the ultimate benefit to the state and the locals would be worth all the hurdles.