New Fort Hall casino moves forward

The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have approved a project recovery plan to secure design and construction administrative services for the new casino project from one of three companies after terminating the professional architectural services of Thalden Boyd Emery Architects of St. Louis, Missouri, in November.

Proposals were sought from the four pre-qualified architecture firms that were originally interviewed in 2014 and gave conceptual proposals to design the new casino. To date, three firms responded with a letter of interest and one declined.

The three architecture and engineering firms that have expressed interest in the project are: FFKR of Salt Lake City, Utah; Womer & Associates of Spokane, Washington (Indian owned & TERO certified); and Worth Group of Denver, Colorado.

“The next step is meeting with the three firms to further interview for the job. In order to continue with the casino project, the tribes are looking for a firm that best provides the resources for design, quality, cost, schedule management and cultural understanding of the tribes,” said Jack Ridgeway, the tribes’ contracted owners’ representative for the casino project.

A tribal “Architects Interview Committee” that will consist of six members from within the tribal government and four at-large members from the tribes will be formed.

The committee roles and responsibilities are to facilitate a quality proposal from each firm on the scope of work and present their qualifications and preliminary approach for the project.

Any and all proposals are given a legal review by the tribes’ legal counsel. The winning contracted architecture firm will be announced in early January, 2016.

The new casino will be 70,000 square feet and will feature a gaming floor to hold 1,000 slot machines, a high-end buffet serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, a bar/lounge built on the gaming floor and a 24/7 food service court.

Construction will average 90 jobs for a 16-month construction period, and a formal groundbreaking has been scheduled for early spring of 2016.