Casino lovers can begin countdown for the opening of Catawba Nation resort in NC

Joe Marusak, Jim Morrill

The Catawba Indian Nation intends to open the first part of its planned $273 million Two Kings Casino Resort in Kings Mountain by next fall, Tribal Administrator Elizabeth Harris said.

“After clearing is complete, we will begin building an introductory facility,” Harris told The Charlotte Observer in an email this week.

The 60,000-square-foot facility off Dixon School Road near Interstate 85 will include at least 1,300 slot machines, a restaurant and other “basic amenities,” Harris said.

The first phase will require an investment of between $80 million and $100 million, and would include money for road improvements to handle the added traffic, she said.

In a Dec. 1 post on Facebook, tribe leaders invited tribal citizens who own flooring, electrical, landscaping and other construction-related businesses to participate in the first part of the project. Tribal leaders said they would forward the owners’ names to the project general contractor.

The Catawbas’ reservation is in Rock Hill, S.C.

After years of on-again, off-again efforts, the Catawba Nation held a ground-breaking for the casino in July. The site is about 35 miles west of Charlotte.

The Catawba Nation unveiled this logo for its planned Two Kings Casino Resort in Kings Mountain, N.C. The logo features a silhouette of 18th-century King Hagler against an image of Kings Mountain.
The Catawba Nation unveiled this logo for its planned Two Kings Casino Resort in Kings Mountain, N.C. The logo features a silhouette of 18th-century King Hagler against an image of Kings Mountain.

With gambling prohibited in South Carolina, the Catawbas looked across the border for at least seven years.

The tribe finally won federal approval in March to buy 16 acres for the project. The U.S. Interior department put the land in trust, a designation that gave the tribe the right to develop a casino.

Cooper ‘in discussions’ over casino compact

The tribe submitted a plan to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s office in October detailing how the tribe planned to operate the casino, WRAL-TV first reported.

In late November, Harris told the Observer the tribe was in “serious discussions” with Cooper’s office on a so-called compact.

The agreement would let the tribe bring Vegas-style gambling to the Charlotte area, including slot machines, blackjack and roulette at the casino.

The compact also would include estimated revenues the state could receive from casino operations, according to WRAL.

On Friday, Harris said she had nothing new to report about the negotiations.

“We continue to have discussions,” she said.

In a statement Friday, a spokesman for Cooper said: “The parties are now engaged in discussions regarding a proposed compact.”

Asked by the Observer if the tribe would proceed with construction without a compact, Harris said: ‘Our preference is to work with the state on a compact.”

Cherokees lawsuit update

The Catawbas held the July ground-breaking despite a lawsuit filed in federal court against the project.

The Eastern Band of the Cherokees sued the Catawbas and the U.S. Department of the Interior, claiming that political pressure from the project’s developer prompted the government to pave the way for the casino and bypass Congress in the process.

The Cherokees, who have operated casinos in North Carolina since 1997, also called the Catawbas’ efforts “a modern-day land grab,” the Observer previously reported.

The Catawbas said they have a right to the land based on a provision of a 1993 agreement that gave them federal recognition.

The agreement also gave the tribe a “service area” in six N.C. counties, including Mecklenburg and Cleveland.

Tribe members who live in those counties are eligible for the same federal benefits and services as those living on the reservation. That was the basis for their claim to the N.C. land.

Final legal filings in the lawsuit are due at the end of January.

If you are a Catawba citizen who owns their own business and is interested in possible opportunities to work on phase 1...

Posted by Catawba Nation on Tuesday, December 1, 2020

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