The $250-million Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa, which opened on December 10, 2004, is one of the largest tribal gaming facilities in the nation. Perini Building Company topped-out the resort on March 31, 2004. The Jerde Partnership announced the official groundbreaking for the Morongo Hotel on May 28, 2003. It authorized the governor to negotiate compacts with federally recognized Indian tribes on Indian lands in California to operate slot machines, lotteries and banking and percentage card games, subject to legislative ratification. The new casino was called Casino Morongo and included a dance hall, bowling alley, and diner.Ĭalifornia Proposition 1A, also known as the Gambling on Tribal Lands Amendment, was on the March 7, 2000, ballot in California, where it was approved with a 64% win. In 1995, a new building was constructed for the bingo and card games, and slot machines were introduced.
Cabazon Band of Mission Indians set in motion a series of federal and state actions–including two ballot propositions–that dramatically expanded tribal casino operations in California and other states. Supreme Court decided that neither the state of California nor Riverside County could regulate the bingo and card game operations of the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.
