FireKeepers Casino is expanding

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) - The FireKeepers Casino in Calhoun County is expanding, the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi announced Tuesday.

The plans include a 242-room resort-style hotel, complete with an indoor pool, exercise facility, full service restaurant and business center.

There will be a multi-purpose event center added to the casino, which opened in August 2009 just east of Battle Creek. The center will be capable of seating more than 2,000 guests in a concert venue. It can also be configured to accommodate banquets, corporate meetings, trade shows and other events.

Bingo operations will be expanded to 10,000 square feet of gaming space, doubling the capacity from 250 players to 500 per session.

"Opening FireKeepers Casino was a long journey for our Tribe. We are proud to see this business flourish and to have an opportunity to provide increased amenities to our guests. Our Tribal Elders and all Tribal Members are proud of the economic engine that we have created in South Central Michigan," Homer A. Mandoka, tribal council chairman of the NHBP, said in a news release. "This expansion represents our commitment to giving back to our local community through job creation, increasing local tourism and truly turning Battle Creek into a destination within Michigan."

The expansion project is expected to start in the spring and be completed in summer 2012.