"We are hopeful that we will complete the regulatory process on both the state and federal levels by summer (2004)," Saint Regis Mohawk chief James Ransom told attendees.

Caesars and Saint Regis Mohawk officials report that on May 13 the Bureau of Indian Affairs accepted the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Mohawk Mountain Casino Resort. The DEIS was filed May 21 in the Federal Register and from there will be subject to a 45-day comment period. The Town of Thompson Planning Board has also recently approved the DEIS and has scheduled a public hearing on the proposal on June 23.

Chuck Miller, vice president of development for Caesars, said, "Everything that is in our controllable universe has been done." He said that it was now up to the regulatory agencies to review and hopefully approve its plans. In addition, there is litigation pending that challenges the constitutionality of Indian gaming and the state's approval of up to three casinos in the Catskill region that must be ruled upon.

Caesars officials would not offer a prediction on when the Mohawk Mountain Casino resort project, which would create approximately 2,000 construction jobs and 4,000 hotel/casino positions upon completion, would break ground. The project, calls for a 750-room hotel atop a two-story gaming facility that will include a 160,000-sf main gaming floor. The gaming facility is to be built on Anawana Lake in the Town of Thompson at the Kutsher's Sports Academy property. The resort will be located on a 174-acre site, of which 66 acres will be held in trust for the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe by the US Department of Interior. The project will also include a six-story, 5,000-vehicle parking garage and a wastewater treatment facility.

The Mohawk Mountain Casino Resort proposal must receive approvals from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Indian Gaming Commission and the State of New York before construction can proceed.

The update session included a timeline since May 2001 that showed the numerous traffic and environmental studies that have been undertaken and where the venture stands in terms of the approval process. However, the one question many supporters of casinos in the heart of what was once the popular "Borscht Belt" wanted answered remains a mystery --When is the casino going to be built?

Instant Insights /

Mohawk Mountain Casino Resort Inches Toward Approvals

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