The Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe has been trying to install a new Arizona casino for nearly a decade.
However, the growing popularity of gaming and sports betting in Arizona could be what this project needs to help push it across the finish line.
Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe casino proposition
The Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe is reportedly resurrecting a plan to bring a new tribal casino to a corner of its 1,413-acre reservation. The tribe first floated the idea in 2014. However, the proposal didn’t get very far. The has now revived the proposal in an effort to better serve the nearby ‘quad city’ communities of Prescott, Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt and Prescott Valley.
Construction was expected to begin in late 2014. However, building was postponed until the tribe signed a new gaming compact with the state in April 2021. Included was the Prescott casino project, along with the addition of sports betting to Arizona casinos.
Site preparation for the new Yavapai-Prescott casino in Prescott has begun. Soil testing and other preliminary work is underway at the construction site at the junction of Highway 69 and Yavpe Connector. The location is across the street from the Frontier Village Shopping Mall.
The project will consolidate the tribe’s current two casinos, Bucky’s and the Yavapai Casino. The tribe will also move their allotted 566 gaming machines into the new casino. The casino will be located at a convenient site alongside a stretch of Arizona State Route 69. This will allow the new property to appeal to gamblers in cities as distant as Flagstaff and Phoenix. Both cities sit less than 100 miles away from the planned site.
New casino will add to the promising future of tribal gaming in Arizona
In their most recent statement on the project, the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe says the new casino is in the first phase of development. The tribe’s President, Bob Ogo, says that the gaming market in Arizona is changing. He also says that the addition of another gambling property will allow the tribe to prepare for the future.
“Our two existing casinos have served the ‘quad-city’ market for over 25 years, said Ogo. These casinos have provided secure and well-paying jobs for over 300 local employees, many of whom have been with us for over 20 years, as well as funded many worthy non-tribal charitable and civic community projects from the tribe’s gaming revenues for the past 20 years that have benefited Prescott Valley and surrounding communities.”
The original plan calls for a 50,000-square-foot casino. It includes an 80-room hotel, conference spaces, a restaurant and a state-of-the-art casino floor. There will also be as many as 566 slots and 90 gaming tables. This $80 million development plan. At this time, there is no planned opening date.
