ONAWA, Iowa | After a long hiatus, casino gambling has returned to the Omaha Tribe's reservation in western Iowa.
The former Casino Omaha, which shut down in the summer 2011 ahead of historic Missouri River flooding, reopened three months ago with a new name, Blackbird Bend Casino.
The 6,800-square-foot gaming floor is located in former casino restaurant, which stayed dry during months of flooding.
The revamped casino features more than 300 slot machines, most brand new, and more than 73 employees. A hiring preference was given to Native Americans, who make up about 75 percent of the workforce.
"Our employment rate is really high on the reservation," Darwin Turner, a member of the tribe's Gaming Commission, said the week after the casino reopened. "It's good to get some of our tribal members back working again."
People are also reading…
"We're glad to have gaming back on the reservation," said Darwin Turner, commission member.
Tribal members, who spent in excess of $1 million to get the casino back up and running, point out the space is only temporary. This spring, the tribe was scheduled to break ground on a $11 million casino in an adjacent parking lot.
Tribal funds and disaster awards from the Federal Emergency Management Administration will finance the project, scheduled for completion in late 2013 or early 2014.
The new casino will have 430 slots and eight table games, and employ about 160 workers, an increase from the 138 who lost their jobs when the old casino closed on June 2, 2011.Â
The new structure will be built six feet higher than the existing one, providing more than clearance to withstand a repeat of the 2011 flood, which occurred after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was forced to release record amounts of water from upriver dams. The move followed unusually high Rocky Mountain snow pack in late spring, combined with abnormally heavy rainfall in May and June throughout Montana and the Dakotas.
To protect one of the Omaha Tribe's most significant sources of revenue, tribal members and other volunteers built a 10-foot berm around the casino in four days. But as much as 1 1/2 feet of floodwater entered portions of the building, including the gaming floor.
While there was no structural damage, the structure had to be gutted.
The tribe, headquartered in Macy, Neb., began the Las Vegas-style casino in 1992 on its reservation land on the Iowa side of the Missouri River, about five miles northwest of Onawa, and about 40 miles from Sioux City.
Blackbird Bend is the name of the land near the where the casino operates. Tribal officials said the name change represents a new beginning for the casino, the victim of two closings in the last three years.
The first shut down,on June 30, 2009, was blamed on poor economic conditions and management problems.
After the tribal council put new internal controls in place, forming a three-member board to oversee the operations, the facility reopened in December 2010, only to have to close six months later ahead of the floodwaters.
