Leader Staff
The Ho-Chunk Casino in Wittenberg will add a new hotel and conference center as part of a multi-million dollar expansion of its gaming facilities, according to a resolution passed by the tribe.
The Ho-Chunk Nation Legislature conducted a special legislative session on March 7 to discuss expansion plans for its gaming locations and approved a resolution calling for a $143 million expansion of four of the tribe’s six gaming facilities.
That includes a $27 million expansion of the Wittenberg casino, where the tribe plans to build a $14.4 million hotel and $5.8 million conference center, along with a $6.7 million casino floor expansion. Both projects include parking structures.
The tribe’s Wittenberg facility currently has 11,000 square feet of gaming and 500 slot machines.
The tribe also plans to build an $11.2 million hotel and $4.5 million events center in Nekoosa in central Wisconsin. The projects also include expansions and improvements to the tribe’s casinos in Wisconsin Dells and Black River Falls.
The tribe anticipates the project will create 317 jobs at the four locations, including 82 new jobs in Wittenberg and 75 in Nekoosa, according to its website.
Tribal officials will be sending some documentation to agencies at the state and federal level concerning the plans.
A representative from Gov. Scott Walker’s office said Thursday that because the casinos are on tribal land and the expansions appear to conform to terms of the Ho-Chunk compact with the state, the state does not have to approve the plans.
Tribe officials were unavailable for comment.