In 2011, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe acquired the Tucson 5 Drive-in. Now, the tribe wants to turn the theater into the newest Arizona casino.
Located closest to downtown Tucson, the new casino could become Tucson’s gambling hub. With the Arizona sports betting market booming, a casino in a central location could have significant implications.
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President Joe Biden signed the Old Pascua Community Land Acquisition Act into law on December 27, granting the Pascua Yaqui tribe permission to build the Tucson casino. The act designates the 40-acre plot as sovereign land.
Under the amended Tribal-State Gaming Compact, the Pascua Yaqui can add another casino to their portfolio.
In 2019, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe reached an agreement with the city of Tucson. The agreement stated that the tribe would make payments “in lieu of taxes” that would cover “most currently anticipated uses at the site.” The payment value would be based on revenue. In return, Tucson would continue to provide services like police, trash/recycling, and other necessities.
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Amy Prillaman, manager of Endowed Grounds Restaurant near the proposed casino location, believes that a casino would only help other local shops in the area. In an interview with KGUN, she stated:
“We are a tight-knit community here, and we just love to support the community in general. So I think any opportunity that we get to expand our customer base is another opportunity to give back, impact lives, and impact the community of Tucson but also to positively impact that casino as well. So, I see it as a partnership in the making and maybe something beautiful to happen soon.”
Tucson Metro Chamber President and CEO Michael Guymon shares a similar sentiment. Guymon believes that an operation as large as the proposed casino could help attract additional businesses, not just in the gambling sector, to the area. These businesses could help develop underutilized land in the region.
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This new casino would be the tribe’s third and Tucson’s sixth.
Currently, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe owns and operates the Casino del Sol Resort, located on West Valencia Road. It also runs the Casino of the Sun, situated on South Camino de Oeste.
Another tribe operates two other casinos in the Tucson area as well. The Tohono O’odham Nation operates the Desert Diamond Casino off Pima Mine Road and I-19, as well as the Desert Diamond Casino & Hotel off South Nogales Highway.
Adam Hensley is a journalist from Des Moines, Iowa, who currently works for the USA Today Network. His byline has appeared in the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, and various sites within the USA Today Network. Hensley graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 and spent his college career working for the Daily Iowan’s sports department, both as an editor and reporter.
