WAYLAND, Mich. — Gun Lake Casino broke ground on a new hotel and resort on Thursday.
It is their latest phase of construction, wrapping up their last phase only eight months ago. That phase included three new restaurants and an expanded gaming floor space.
Just to the west of the casino, construction begun on phase five, which will include a 15-story, 252-room hotel and 32,000-square-foot aquadome.
"Over the years, we’ve all heard or maybe even said it ourselves: When is Gun Lake going to build a hotel?" said Gun Lake Tribe Chairman Bob Peters.
"This has been a long time coming, and it is going to be very significant for the area. There is no question about it," said Gun Lake Casino Chief Executive Officer Salvatore Semola.
The estimated $350 million project will transform the casino footprint to focus more on non-gaming amenities.
"We are really creating something here. It is a cliche but a must-see destination-type resort with that aquadome is going to be something very, very unique," said Semola.
The hotel and resort will feature a new restaurant, gift shop, full-service spa, a pool, hot tub and a business center and meeting space.
The aquadome will also feature three additional pools, a swim-up bar and live entertainment stage.
All of it is estimated to create an estimated $650 million impact.
"For what it will do just for tourism alone, it will be phenomenal. Like I said, it will expand our reach to Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, in terms of being another thing for folks to do in this area. This area already offers a lot. This is just another amenity, if you will, for the entire region," said Semola.
Once completed, the hotel and resort will create 350 jobs, and the project itself will create around 15,000 jobs for not just works on-site but off-site as well.
"To build all of this, we’re going to have an average of about 200 people on-site everyday and that will peak out at over 400. There will be a lot of people here working," said Allen Blower with Clark Construction.
"This expansion will not be the last. I can’t share with you what is in store for the future, but I can tell you the best is yet to come," said Semola.
The project is expected to take around 34 months with an expected completion in March 2025.
