CRST gets grant for bingo hall

| Thursday, July 21, 2005

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EAGLE BUTTE - The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has awarded Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe a $1 million economic grant to build a new bingo hall in Eagle Butte. Delegations from CRST and Shakopee met May 26 in Prior Lake, Minn., to present design and development plans for the proposed bingo hall.

Site selection will be decided this week for the 7,000-square-foot facility. Contractor selection is in progess.

The tribe has approved a September start for construction and has tentatively set a grand opening for Christmas. The hall will seat 250 people and contain a gift shop, concession area and office space. The hall project also includes a paved and lighted parking lot.

CRST Chairman Harold Frazier and tribal planner DeAnna LeBeau gave presentations to Shakopee Chairman Stanley Crooks and his staff on the proposed bingo hall.

The tribe has had bingo operations continuously since 1991. The current hall, a leased building, needs repair and the tribe decided to propose a development plan to the Minnesota tribe. CRST has 14,423 tribal members who live on a land base of 2.8 million acres, with 1.4 million acres in trust.

With only a Class II gaming operations license, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has no casino.

The Shakopee tribe has funded several CRST projects over the years including a $250,000 youth center, $50,000 diabetes clinic, $6,000 suicide-prevention program and $27,000 buffalo and wild-horse feed program. The Minnesota Sioux have also supported several CRST powwows.