Agua Caliente Casino Cathedral City on Track

CATHEDRAL CITY — While businesses throughout the Coachella Valley shuttered to blunt the spread of the coronavirus and residents were ordered to stay at home, a steady hum of activity continued to keep on track construction of the new Agua Caliente Casino Cathedral City.

Ground for the new casino was broken Nov. 4.  Since then, the corner of E. Palm Canyon Drive and Date Palm Drive has been ground zero for an entertainment development project in the heart of downtown.

“We have been anticipating that the Agua Caliente Casino Cathedral City will open near the end of 2020 – still on schedule,” Kate Anderson, director of public relations for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, told Uken Repot.

The gaming and entertainment facility in the downtown is a significant element in the rebirth of the second largest community in the Coachella Valley. The casino, being constructed by the Agua Caliente of Cahuilla Indians, will serve as the fourth anchor at the eastern edge of the Downtown Arts and Entertainment District.

The Cathedral City casino is part of a rebirth of  the Downtown. It will complement:

• A new $8.2 million Fire Department
• A new $3.7 million amphitheater
• A new $2.7 million Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre

The promise of Agua Caliente Casino Cathedral City opening later this year offers hope at a time when residents need it. It’s about so much more than entertainment. More than 560 people are expected to be employed at the casino.

The casino will be a significant draw for the downtown. It will augment and enhance the restaurants, the movie theatre, festivals, amphitheater, and the repertory theatre.

This is the Aqua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians’ third casino location.  Others are located in Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage.

The Cathedral City casino will be a landmark for the tribe, for Cathedral City, and for the surrounding communities, Carnevale said.

Construction of the Cathedral City casino is underway thanks to Federal government approval of the Tribe’s request to transfer the land status from fee to tribal trust for gaming purposes.

In 2017, the Tribe acquired 12.5 acres at the corner of E. Palm Canyon Drive and Date Palm Drive to complete a 13.6-acre project site for an entertainment development project in the heart of downtown Cathedral City.  As part of that agreement, the Tribe contributed $5.5 million to build a new city fire station at 68950 Buddy Rogers Ave.