Indiana's Four Winds Casino celebrate construction milestone on hotel
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he Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians is celebrating a construction milestone this Tuesday in South Bend, Indiana. The date marks the installation of the final steel beam of a 23-story hotel under construction at its Four Winds Casino.
Members of both the tribe and the casino staff are hosting a private ceremony acknowledging the achievement. The redevelopment project also includes expansion at the casino, which will add 40,000-square feet of gaming space. According to the tribe, the extended gaming space will be completed before the hotel.
The new hotel was first announced in September 2019. Its development plans saw delays due to the Covid pandemic. It is set to become the second tallest building in South Bend. With more than 300 rooms, it will be the largest hotel in the region, surpassing the Doubletree Hotel’s downtown location, at 291 rooms.
The Michigan-based tribe first received approval for Class III gaming earlier this year. The Indiana Senate greenlighted the casino to offer any gambling game permitted at state-regulated casinos, with the tribe agreeing to pay 8% of its slot machine win to Indiana in exchange for an exclusivity agreement that freezes state gaming law within 50 miles of the casino.
The tribe afterward signed the state's first tribal gaming compact with Governor Eric Holcomb in May, allowing the casino to offer staple games like craps, roulette and blackjack, plus more sophisticated slot machines and sports betting.
The new partnership between the state and the tribe included a ribbon-cutting ceremony in June. Further plans for the venue include adding a retail sportsbook, which would involve further discussions with the state.
“The compact is very important to us because now it allows us to compete at an even level with all the commercial casinos in the state of Indiana,” commented Matt Wesaw, tribal council chairman with the Pokagon Band earlier this year. “It will increase our revenue, obviously.”
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians first applied for a Class III gaming license with the state and federal government in 2019. Gov. Eric Holcomb welcomed the expansion, saying it would help the facility become an economic driver not just for the region but for the state.
“When Jeffersonville does well, South Bend benefits. When South Bend or St. Joe or Elkhart County’s doing well, Vanderburgh County does well,” Holcomb commented in June. “This is a big win for the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi Indiana and for the state of Indiana.”
