Though the Suquamish tribe is still not ready to make an announcement on expansion plans for its Clearwater Casino and Bingo facility, there’s been progress toward the day when work starts.

“I’d say we’re closer than we’ve been in the last two years,” said Russell Steele, chief executive officer of Port Madison Enterprises, which operates the casino. “We’ve never made it a secret that we want to expand. It’s always been a goal.”

To that end, reservation land has been purchased around the 15,000-square-foot casino, though Steele would not disclose individual land buys, it is common knowledge that the tribe purchased the Agate Pass Bed and Breakfast property and the lighthouse office from Mike and Penny McLaughlin as well as several others adjacent to it. Steele said the tribe has not yet applied for any land use permits.

“It’s just too early to say exactly what we want to do,” he said.

While the timeline of a large expansion is unknown, remodeling and expansion on a smaller scale takes place. Small buildings already on land owned by the tribe and Port Madison Enterprise are soon to be converted into office space.

Steele said 96 new slot machines, were added to the gaming mix in July, bringing the total to 521 slot machines operated by tickets or electronic cards. They have supplanted some bingo space, though that remains elsewhere.

“We’ll always have bingo, the faithful would kill me,” Steele said.

A bingo hall has been in operation on the Port Madison Indian Reservation for 10 years and poker, keno and slots were added six years ago, Steele said. The other main source of income on the reservation is from the commercial fishing and shellfish industries.

The Suquamish Indian tribe faces increased competition. Other Olympic Peninsula casinos include 7 Cedars Casino run by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe just east of Sequim and the new Point No Point Casino operated by the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe.

Port Madison Enterprises commissioned The Innovation Group, an out-of-state consulting marketing company to create a feasibility analysis for a new hotel and a new casino. The firm describes its work as follows:

“(The Innovation Group) provided an analysis of the Western Washington and Puget Sound area hotel and gaming markets in order to determine the feasibility of moving the casino from its temporary SPRUNG structure into a larger, permanent structure, and assessed the feasibility of a hotel to be constructed at the site. … Meeting space was also to be included in the Clearwater Hotel. A market assessment was performed of meeting space supply and demand in the Puget Sound area, from which an optimal sizing of hotel conference space was derived. The Innovation Group analysts also worked with the casino’s management to point out where it appeared that cost overruns were occurring, where it was evident that inefficiencies existed, and how these problems could be abated.”

The report’s findings have not been disclosed, but Steele said the finances of the Suquamish tribe are good.

“The economy has been very generous to us,” Steele said. “That’s true nationwide as far as Native American tribes are concerned.”

(Editor’s Note: Temple A. Stark is a free-lance writer living in Port Orchard. Reach him at writer@harbornet.com.).