Prospect of Beloit casino seems to be improving
BELOIT, Wis. — After more than a decade of intermittent negotiations, talks have resumed that could lead to a Ho-Chunk Nation casino being built in Beloit.
City and tribe officials have signed a preliminary agreement for a possible casino development, City Manager Larry Arft said this week. While details of the agreement haven’t been released, representatives of both sides will present and explain the tentative deal at a town hall meeting Tuesday at the Beloit Public Library.
The Beloit City Council and Rock County Board of Supervisors will be asked to sign the agreement, a document that Arft said will “set the basis for the relationship” among the tribe, city and county.
A casino in the area would create thousands of jobs and could lead to further development, Arft said. New businesses could include hotels, a theater, convention halls and shopping spaces, he said.
“You’re talking about a significant boost to the whole Stateline Area,” Arft told the Beloit Daily News.
The casino idea has been floated for more than a decade. In a 1999 referendum, 61 percent of Beloit voters approved implementation of a casino project. But the project ran into roadblocks in Washington, D.C.
The tentative deal is “a workable product that is now suitable for review” by council members and the community, Arft said. A formal public hearing has been set for Jan. 17.
While the renewed efforts could still fall flat, there are several factors in the tribe’s favor. Most notably, the Ho-Chunk have a deal in place with the state that allows the tribe to operate four class-three gaming facilities. The Ho-Chunk currently operate three, in Baraboo, Nekoosa and Black River Falls.
Beloit could be that fourth locale, said Jon Greendeer, the president of the Ho-Chunk Nation.
“The Ho-Chunk have something that no other tribe in the state has,” he said. “This could very well be the last gaming, brick-and-mortar site you’ll see in the state.”
Also to the tribe’s advantage, previously conducted environmental-impact studies and land-use studies won’t have to be repeated.
City management and Ho-Chunk officials have held intermittent talks ever since the tribe bought 32 acres of city land in 2008, Arft said. Negotiations intensified about six months ago, and a preliminary deal was hashed out right before Christmas, he added.
Greendeer said both sides have mutual interests and have shown “such a good level of understanding.”
All parties involved approached negotiations with “an open hand, a smile and good feelings,” Greendeer said.