Southern Nevada developer in Northern California Indian casino deal

Southern Nevada casino designer-developer Mark Advent has signed a deal with an Indian tribe to build a $100 million casino in Northern California's wine country.

Advent Communications & Entertainment will join with the Dry Creek Band of Pomo Indians to build the 175,000-square-foot casino, which should open by fall 2001 about 70 miles north of San Francisco.

"It's a prime location, a very wealthy neighborhood," says tribal chairwoman Lorilie Fakhouri. "This business will allow us to provide opportunities for our tribe."

A Sonoma County supervisor is fighting the proposal - even though tribal leaders have state approval to build the project on Indian land.

"There's not a lot an area official can do," said Sonoma County Supervisor Paul Kelley, "but I think as a local official it's calling attention to the inappropriateness of the facility."

Kelley hopes to persuade tribal leaders to contribute money to help pay for expected road widening and additional sheriff's deputies to patrol the area.

Advent and tribal leaders announced the project following last week's California election that saw voters overwhelmingly support the legalization of tribal gambling throughout the state.

Proposition 1A amends California's Constitution to allow the state's governor and tribal leaders to negotiate agreements for slot machines or house-banked, Nevada-style card games.

The Dry Creek reservation covers 75 acres of relatively isolated land that sits on a winding two-lane road, about six miles east of U.S. 101.

The casino's design will be inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's design of a Pittsburgh-area home that's perched above rocks with a waterfall running beneath it, Advent said.

"The tribe and us are very sensitive to the environment and topography. It's going to be a very nonobtrusive structure," said Advent - whose resort designs have included the concept for the New York-New York megaresort on the Las Vegas Strip.

Advent added the property will target the Bay area's large Asian population, an ethnic group casino operators say has a high-propensity to gamble.

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