By Kalvin D. Perron
Staff Reporter
BAY MILLS — Any patron of the Bay Mills Resort and Casino, or passerby for that matter, may notice some significant changes taking place to the existing structure and parking lot. Due to limited parking space, the tribe recently hired Devere Construction to begin renovations on the property.
Bay Mills Resort and Casino General Manager Rod Jones said that the casino needs the extra parking space, especially when special events take place, or during the snowmobile season when the casino is faced with the burden of housing all the snowmobiles.
“We're at the point now where our older customers are driving through the parking lot and taking off because there are no parking spaces available to them. And if there are parking spaces available they are too far away for them to walk, so they leave,” he said. “We hope to keep visitors within a closer proximity to the building.”
In addition to the new parking lot, there will be a new administration building built towards the front entrance of the resort. Vacating current administrative offices will allow for a few thousand square feet of gaming space for the casino to expand. A new entrance will be built where the offices currently sit, next to the 125 new parking spaces.
While many details of the renovation are uncertain, more bathrooms will definitely be built by the current coat check room. More slots and possibly a poker room may be added once the project is complete, Jones said.
With the increased parking space available to customers, Jones said that an addition to the hotel may be in the works for the near future.
“The demand for rooms at our hotel is greater than our capacity,” he said. “Hopefully, a year or two down the road we can add an additional 40-60 rooms.”
Jones said that if an addition were to be built on the hotel it would probably sit between the old wing and new wing of the hotel, right on the waterfront. But, as of now, all efforts are concentrating on completing the current renovation, hopefully done by fall.
An artist's rendition of the renovations can be seen at the Bay Mills Resort and Casino.
