Hoping for Green in Gold Country: Casino Owner Banking on $47 Million Expansion

By Greg Aragon

Tuolumne County has a history of attracting people in search of riches. During the Gold Rush of 1849, it was shovel-toting prospectors seeking their fortunes in the nearby mountains.

The $47 million, three-level expansion of the Black Oak Casino is currently in the structural-steel stage and about 60-percent complete. It is being built in the parking lot of the existing casino, which has remained open throughout construction. Rendering courtesy of KGA Architecture and Black Oak Casino.

After the May 2001 opening of the Black Oak Casino, a 28,000-sq.-ft. facility about 10 mi. east of the city of Sonora, it was coin-carrying gamblers looking for pay dirt. And when the Black Oak inaugurates a 164,770-sq.-ft. expansion in December, modern-day prospectors and gamblers will flock to the tiny Central California town of Tuolumne.

Owned and operated by the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, the casino is located in the town of Tuolumne, roughly 8 mi. south of Highway 108.

"It will be a big draw; it's something we don't have up here," said Laverne Richmond, marketing director with the Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau. "We have theaters, but if we want to go see a name star or something, we usually have to go out of the county to Ironstone Winery (in Murphy, about 23 mi. from Black Oak) or Stockton (about 60 mi. away)."

The $47 million, three-level project is currently in the structural-steel stage and about 60-percent complete. It is being built in the parking lot of the tribe's existing casino, which has remained open throughout construction.

"Before long, we will all be able to see the skeletal framework-the reality of the blueprints we have spent months trying to visualize," said Chris Martin, director of gaming and marketing for Black Oak Casino. Martin said that he expects the expansion to create about 350 jobs. About 325 jobs were established after the opening of the $12 million casino's first phase.

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The new casino was designed by Las Vegas-based KGA Architecture. Some of its features include 940 new slot machines, 24 table games, three restaurants and a 250-seat lounge with a dance floor. The facility will also have an interactive sports bar, a 24-lane bowling center and 32,000-sq.-ft. arcade.

Phoenix-based Kitchell is the general contractor.

Jim Lord Jr., KGA's director of design and principal, said that almost half of the land's 28 total acres has remained unaltered during the expansion in order to preserve natural artifacts of the Me-Wuks.

"Areas of bedrock and lithic scattered on the site were to remain undisturbed, as were a creek and a small pond that is possibly a breeding habitat for the red-legged tree frog," Lord said. "Large oak and elderberry trees were also a priority to be kept in the final design of the site."

The new building is located as far north on the property as possible to allow sensitive areas to remain undisturbed. Parking lots also were designed around these areas, Lord said.