MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho — In the newest update on a proposed casino resort in Mountain Home, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have submitted two applications for placing the 157 acres of land the tribes purchased into trust status and to allow gaming on the property. This is the next step in turning the parcel of land into a casino/resort complex that would have a hotel, gaming, an event center, restaurants, an amphitheater, video arcade, bowling alley and movie theater.
"These applications are a lengthy and complex process, as we have explained to the City of Mountain Home and Elmore County Officials in several meetings and conversations over this past year," said Alonzo Coby, Planning Director for the Tribes. "While it may seem as if we are not making progress publicly on the project, that is not the case. There is a lot of behind the scenes work happening to meet the application requirements and continue the planning process for a project of this size."
The land is also undergoing an environmental assessment. The applications, filed with the Department of Interior , will be examined and the department will issue its opinion. Following that, a thirty-day comment period will open.
"Because the land will be taken into trust after the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, gaming can only be conducted on the land under an exception outlined in IGRA. The DOI is also conducting a review called a Secretarial Two-Part Determination. This review requires (1) that the Secretary of Interior determine that gaming on the land is in the best interest of the tribe and that it is not detrimental to the surrounding local community; and (2) that the governor of the state concurs," a news release stated.
The project is part of Shoshone-Bannock Tribes' Economic Development Project in Elmore County that is projected to bring a value of $187.2 million into the local and state economy annually, according to a press release.
The Tribe's bought the land in 2020. as KTVB previously reported, the project would consist of 2,000 gaming machines, 250 hotel rooms, six food and beverage venues and a 15,000-square-foot event center.
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