The mayor of a city in southwestern Wisconsin where the Lac du Flambeau tribe would like to build a casino says a clear majority of residents favor it. A meeting is being held by the Bureau of Indian Affairs tonight at Shullsburg High School, between Dubuque and Madison near the Illinois border. The tribe owns property there and has sought to build a complex including a hotel and casino. The BIA has blocked the plan but is taking another look.
Shullsburg Mayor Tom Lethlean says there’s widespread support. “It’s overwhelming in support of the casino/hotel venture,” he says. Lethlean says most long time residents favor the proposal, with newer residents opposed.
The mayor the casino complex would help stabilize an economy often subject to the ups and downs of agriculture. “We go as the ag economy goes, ” he says. “What we’re presented with here would be a diversification, where we wouldn’t be totally caught up in the cyclical cycles the free market tends to go through.”
The Lac du Flambeau proposal includes a gaming facility, hotel, restaurant and retail facilities, entertainment and convention space, an RV park, sportsman’s club, maintenance and parking areas. It could take years to get full regulatory approval.
Thanks to WXPR