Pechanga Tribal Nation

Entertainment resort and casino open

Pechanga tribe opens new casino

December 31, 2002
North County Times

The Pechanga tribe of Luiseno Indians in June opened the doors of its new Vegas-style resort and casino, the largest Indian-owned casino and resort in California, to an estimated opening night crowd of about 10,000.

The $262 million, 522-room, 14-story complex southeast of Temecula includes 2,000 slot machines, 63 blackjack and other table games, poker tables, a more than 700-seat bingo hall, a 126-seat teleconferencing room, a 40,000-square-foot meeting and convention space, seven restaurants, a 1,200-seat state-of-the-art theater and a 24,000-square-foot ballroom. At about 1 million square feet, the resort stands as one of the largest structures in the county.

The new facility was slated to employ about 1,700 full-time employees, Butch Murphy, communications director, said at the time.

It took several attempts to raise money for the project, but the Pechangas finally succeeded in putting together the third-largest financial backing agreement with an Indian nation in state history, obtaining $150 million from an alliance of lending institutions to build the complex. The casino, which currently spends about $33 million annually with local businesses, is expected to pour millions more dollars into the economies of local cities.

The tribe opened the original 60,000-square-foot casino in temporary buildings in 1995 and subsequently added a recreational vehicle resort, self-service gas station, mini-mart and automated car wash.

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