By the way, some news from Wisconsin. There's a large anti-casino crowd in Madison. The anti-casino group claimed it would cost the counties Millions of dollars because of crime, gamblers and expenses.

The tribal study showed it would bring in millions. I guess that's about the shortest version I can come up with.

Call it politics.

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Growth Is Planned
The Capital Times :: FRONT :: 1A
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
By Judith Davidoff The Capital Times

Minutes after Ho-Chunk President George Lewis conceded that Dane County residents had rejected his tribe's bid to turn the DeJope bingo hall into a casino, he said the Ho-Chunk Nation would refocus its attention on developing the 46 acres it owns surrounding the facility.

"We'll continue to grow," he said in an interview at the Concourse Hotel, where tribal leaders and members gathered Tuesday night with supporters. "We're business people."

The final results of the vote were:

No 93,530

Yes 51,543

Ho-Chunk's revenue-sharing agreements with the city and county -- which would have provided each municipality with about $3.5 million a year if a casino had opened at DeJope -- included a clause to prohibit the tribe from opening anything at DeJope that would compete with the Alliant Energy Center or Monona Terrace Convention Center.

It would have also prohibited Ho-Chunk from building a convention center of more than 10,000 square feet at DeJope or a theater venue of more than 3,000 seats.

The absence of an agreement, however, expands Ho-Chunk's options, he said.

"Now I guess we can grow as big as we want," Lewis said.

He said the expansion plans, approved by the Ho-Chunk Legislature and Madison Plan Commission in 2000, call for a hotel, water park and retail space, among other things.