Anyone remember back when 7-Up promoted itself as the Uncola? Wel, there could be marketing gold just waiting to be mined from an unfortunately mistaken casino site. Confused? Read on, from the Detroit News, and all will be clear:
Since June, gamblers at the Kewadin Shores Casino and Hotel in the Upper Peninsula have enjoyed the amenities of a new $36 million resort — restaurants, a stylish lounge, an indoor pool — overlooking picturesque Horseshoe Bay on Lake Huron.
But what they haven’t been able to enjoy is the centerpiece of the resort: a 29,070- square-foot casino with 800 slot machines and 26 gaming tables.
A portion of the new casino was mistakenly built on land on which the U.S. government says Indian gambling is not allowed.
As the casino sits empty, debate lingers among the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians about who is responsible for the blunder. The tribe’s current and former chairmen blame each other. And as the tribe works quickly to build a $2.5 million tent-like substitute casino, some hold slim hope that the federal government will eventually let the tribe use the vacant hall for gambling.
“It wasn’t until after we had the pilings and foundation in place that we realized that something wasn’t right,” said Aaron Payment, chairman of the Sault tribe. “We did another survey and found that all but 30 feet of the casino was on ineligible land.”
All bets are off at new U.P. casino – 09/20/06 – The Detroit News Online
The tent is fine, but I say just promote the unusable casino as “the uncasino.” Guarantee that patrons will not lose money–after all, they won’t, if they can’t gamble.
Seriously, can’t the tribe offer Class 2 games there? What about turning it into a big poker room? Then you can boast the state’s biggest poker room, and get some mileage out of the mistake. It’s better than just having patrons walk through a big empty space.
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In site news, I’m completely moved over to the Vegas Media Group’s server, and I’ve updated the banner and background. Hit “refresh” if you still get the old ones.
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In further news, look for an announcement on the East Coast launch event for Roll the Bones as soon as tomorrow.