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Show April 3, Cross Currents 1998 Gamble horse stalls, an Madrid is maintaining a putting golf infield of the attitude. He is skeptical SunRay will be course on the racetrack, a playground and video ready to open as early as January and says arcade for children and a European- - he hasno idea what the effect will be WTiat we are style plaza where musi- on business for Ute Mountain Ute going is do take advantage cians and jugglers will Casino. itlQtOn, of the facility and its Paris Derizotis should But perform. location and I think, be What we want to do give tribal officials reason to pause. able to offer a broader . Derizotis, of Farmington, is a regular is draw the broadest at Sky Ute and occasionally plays cards at spectrum of entertain- IS segment of the populaUte Mountain. He is looking forward to . tion to the facility, . y ment, he says. Theres tUe Walters says. We are having a gambling center close to home. lot of people who tUteU arent going to go some- putting a lot more The absence of blackjack and poker wont QomeTS where just to play slots, money into the proper- - bother him at all, he says. I wont play and we want draw than we would need the slots, but I will go for the horse those people. O to if we were just doing races. And will Derizotis continue to visit The first floor of the a casino. three-storWalters estimates the the tribal casinos once SunRay Park is 70,000cost of renovating the open for business? square-fograndstands will have a dininglounge downs at $8 million to Absolutely not, he says. Except if I area with a stage for live entertainment $9.5 million. want to take a ride for the scenery. Sekai K Mutunhu is a former staff and a The complex will provide 358 jobs casino area with 300 slot machines. It will also offer and bring in around $3 million a year in writer for the Durango Herald. Caleb simulcast horse wagering. revenue for the local business communi- - Kenna is a freelance photographer based until recently in Bayfield. Park will also boast 1,100 ty, he says. SunRay she spends in an evening of gambling, Chacho says the most she ever won was an $88 slot machine pay-ou-t. We went more often in the beginning when they (Sky Ute Casino) was she says. Once they expanded and built the lodge we didnt seem to win as often. The opening of SunRay Park and Casino is of little interest to Chacho, who says she wouldnt go out of her way to drive the extra miles to Farmington when she can drive 30 minutes to Ignacio. The clients seems to be fairly local (at Sky Ute and Ute Mountain Ute), and I would imagine part of the reason is convenience, she says. I would say the new casino would just draw out a whole new crowd of people who didnt bother going before. It will be a new source of enter wait-and-s- ee 18-ho- le will From page 18 smaller and were paying better, tainment for that area, and people there support it." Thats what Raymond Walters is banking on. Page 31 25-ac- re Ftimi San Juan County the most popu aVU in fand we are right the middle of y, it. ot 7,000-square-fo- ot l&jld Cmf& jBWB' i &J fe C1 Hey Good Lookin , Whatcha Got Cookin? How Bout Cookin Somethin Up For Me? I 3npEy Diiya Cufe UrciikfiiKt Lunch Dinner Take lint Menu Available 731-37- 13 2151 Highway 160 Century 21 Plaza Pagosa Springs, CO |