Little Shell officials discuss proposed event center with neighborhood council
Residents had a chance to ask questions about the planned Little Shell Chippewa Tribe event facility on Mount Royal overlooking Hill 57 during the March 6 Neighborhood Council 3 meeting.
In December, the tribe announced that it planned to submit an application to the U.S. Department Interior requesting approval to build the facility.
Gerald Gray presented conceptual designs for the project and asked if it was a “for sure” project, Gray said no since they still need approval from the federal agency.
The Little Shell regained federal recognition in 2019 and has since grown to nearly 7,000 members with $480,000 in annual federal funding.
Due to the limited funding, “the Tribe faces substantial challenges in meeting the needs of its community,” and in a release said the proposed event center will help address those challenges “by creating a strong, stable economic foundation for the Tribe.”
The Little Shell proposal includes:
- 200-room hotel
- 30,000-square-foot indoor waterpark
- 10,000-square-foot multipurpose event space
- 8-lane bowling alley and arcade
- 500-machine gaming facility
- 9,700-person capacity arena for entertainment and sports
- multiple food and beverage venues including scenic dining
“This proposal marks the first step in a multi-year process, with approval and construction timelines yet to be determined. The Tribe remains committed to fostering development, growth, innovation and sustainability for its citizens and the larger community,” according to a release.
In December, The Electric asked the press contact for the Little Shell about whether the property would be annexed into the city; if they’d discussed the project with city or county planning staff; how public safety needs would be supported; how infrastructure will be installed; and how the project will be funded, among other development related questions.
Terra Branson-Thomas, a senior policy advisor, with Clause Law responded stating the Tribe “is still in the early planning stages” and “we’re not able to share further details at this time.”
Clause Law is a Washington, D.C. based firm that provides “legal and policy solutions to tribal nations, tribal organizations, and tribally-owned businesses. Our dedicated team harnesses their unique skill sets to tackle many of the challenges that Indian Country faces. Clause Law is not just a law firm or a policy shop – it is both. Combining these two platforms and expertise in one firm allows us to provide specialized solutions that achieve our clients’ objectives,” according to the firm’s website.
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The Little Shell owns land in the proposed area that is currently in the county.
During the March 6 neighborhood council meeting, Gerald Gray, Little Shell chairman, said that they’re also planning an 18-acre housing development off Stuckey Road with 35 single family homes, 18 duplexes and 50 apartments.
It was unclear when they intended to start that project and whether they had various approvals for the development project.
For the event center, Gray said they wanted to make it a destination with about 9,700 seats.
He said it’s designed with a low profile due to the air traffic patterns at Great Falls International Airport.
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A neighborhood resident asked how the project would be funded and Gray said they were financing it themselves.
Aron Krischel, council member, asked how utilities and infrastructure would be installed.
Gray said they’d work with county and city commissioners.
County officials told The Electric that as of March 18, they had not been contacted by the Little Shell about their planned projects.
Gray said traffic would be directed up Stuckey Road then toward the hill, rather than up 6th Street Northwest.
A meeting attendee who said she was associated with the Cascade County Tavern Association asked why they were taking local casino customers away since they don’t pay tax revenue on their machines or property taxes and wouldn’t support public safety needs.
Gray said “we’ll put money back into the community” and said they could donate toward a fire department.
He said it would be two to four years before they start construction on the project.
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Brett Doney, president of the Great Falls Development Authority, said that the local tourism entity had done market studies for an event center and looked at locations, choosing the county fairgrounds as the focus.
The cost to build such a facility was estimated at more than $100 million and would have been borne by the county taxpayers, Doney said.
Tourism was interested in a large event center, as was GFDA, Doney said, because “we have great leakage” since people leave to go to events elsewhere such as MetraPark in Billings and Kettlehouse in Missoula.
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Doney said they’re looking for an event center that could attract new customers to Great Falls for events, who would also hopefully stay overnight, spending money here, but also as an amenity for locals to have access to events not available currently due to the lack of a facility.
Doney said the Little Shell had conducted separate studies and the event center they designed was almost exactly what tourism and GFDA had developed with their consultants, including a 9,700-seat arena.
“We’re confident there’s a market demand for this,” Doney said, and if the taxpayers aren’t funding such a facility, the Little Shell was the only other option without a major developer from outside the community.
“We’re much more comfortable with tribe taking the risk” rather than taxpayers, Doney said, and a well-done facility could bring money into the community that would also stay here.
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He said there’s a lot of issues to be worked out in terms of infrastructure, utilities and public safety, but they’d rather be working with the Little Shell rather than a global development company.
“We’re convinced that this is going to bring new people into the market,” Doney said, though there’s great concern in the bar and casino industries, as well as the impact to public infrastructure and safety.
Gray said they’ve done studies and “we want to be good neighbors.”
Asked whether the property would be annexed into the city, Gray said no.
Branson-Thomas, a senior policy advisor advising the Little Shell, said financing agreements would be subject to federal oversight. She said the project hadn’t yet been federally approved so they can’t seek financing.
A woman attending the meeting said that she’d ask Gray in a previous county meeting about their other project if they intended to build a casino and was told no, so she had concerns about their honesty and transparency.
Council members and the neighbors in attendance for the March 6 meeting discussed fire danger in the area.
Garri Mauch, council member, asked Gray to ask the “higher ups” for a fire department in their area during discussions for the project.
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Currently, the land where the tribe is proposing their event center is in the county and Gray said during the meeting that they had no plans to annex the property into the city, which means the city would not provide public safety resources or infrastructure.
Great Falls Fire Rescue has for years said they need at least another fire station but have not had the funding to do so and made no determination as to where a new station might be located.
Great Falls voters did not approve a public safety levy or bond in 2023.
Gray said the area was currently covered by Black Eagle Volunteer Fire Department.
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He said that the Little Shell would enter into an agreement with city fire and police for their services and said both agencies were willing to do that.
“They like money,” Gray said.
GFFR Chief Jeremy Jones told The Electric that they had not been approached by anyone regarding the Little Shell project as of March 13.
Jones said for GFFR to enter into an agreement for fire services, the Little Shell would have to first approach the county to create a new fire district for themselves and then request fire/ems services.
“This has not been done in many decades,” Jones said, but that’s how the current fire district were created.
Jones said the service fee is based on mills and detailed in state statute.
Great Falls Police Chief Jeff Newton said that no one from the Little Shell had approached him about police services for the project and he has entered in to no agreement to do so.
Any agreement for public safety services for an entity outside the city limits would have to go through the city legal department and be approved by the commission.
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