COWLITZ INDIAN RESERVATION — ilani staff, Cowlitz Indian Tribe leaders, first responders and officials from nearby cities gathered Monday for the opening of Cowlitz Crossing, the new gas station and convenience store near the casino resort on the Cowlitz reservation.
The Cowlitz Drum Group welcomed guests with a performance of traditional songs, and Cowlitz Tribal Council Vice Chairman Phil Harju and ilani President Kara Fox-LaRose spoke to the crowd of about 150 guests, which included Mohegan Gaming chief operating officer Michael Silberling and Cowlitz tribe member David Barnett, who purchased the first part of the land that would become the reservation.
Fox-LaRose detailed the development process for the gas station, and said it fit with the Cowlitz tribe’s promise that the casino project would add to the surrounding area and community. The event also featured a blessing from Cowlitz spiritual leader Tanna Engdahl, and concluded with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome guests to the store.
The project broke ground in November, according to ilani procurement director Taylor Morelli, who led the development of Cowlitz Crossing. The team spent the prior months refining the design to better fit the site.
“We wanted to make sure we stayed consistent with the casino,” she said.
The grand opening coincided with the second anniversary of ilani, which opened April 24, 2017.
Standing out
The Cowlitz Crossing building is about the same size as an average gas station convenience store, but it stands out from the pack with its high curving ceiling and prominent wood elements, most of which are finished with surface patterns that match the woodwork on the main casino building.
A smiling, 8-foot-tall Sasquatch statue near the front door also tends to draw the eye — and hopefully the attention of visitors looking for a Pacific Northwest-inspired selfie opportunity.
The shelves and coolers are stocked with the usual convenience store fare, but Cowlitz Crossing manager Sara Englehart said the store’s lineup features a number of local products such as ice cream sandwiches from Portland-based Ruby Jewel and coffee from Ridgefield-based Raindrop Roasters.
The large deli counter puts a strong emphasis on hot and prepared food, and the self-serve beverage counter is a bit swankier than that of the average mini-mart, featuring a nitro-brew coffee machine, a “F’real” self-serve milkshake maker and two “Spire” Pepsi soda fountains that allow users to mix and match flavors.
The store will also sell ilani wine, a brand the casino created in partnership with Maryhill Winery, which is headquartered in Goldendale and recently opened a tasting room at The Waterfront Vancouver.
“This will be the first time you’ll be able to purchase it in a bottle,” Englehart said. “They serve it only by the glass at the casino.”
The station includes 24 pumps under the main canopy, plus an additional set of high-speed pumps on the far side of the building for trailers. The designers wanted to include enough pumps to avoid lines for customers, Morelli said.
Some of the main pumps can dispense ethanol-free gas for boats. Like the casino, the gas station will operate 24/7, with a staff of about 21 employees. Morelli said she expects the station to sell about 400,000 gallons of gas per month.
Cowlitz Crossing does not include any electric car charging stations, but Fox-LaRose said that’s because there are already several chargers in the main casino parking lot.
“We opened with those, and people use them all the time,” she said.
Parking garage
During the Cowlitz Crossing presentation, Fox-LaRose also marked the occasion by announcing the next phase of ilani development.
“We’re going to be breaking ground on a parking structure,” she said.
The six-story, 2,600-space garage will be located next to the ilani building, with a covered walkway to the main entrance.
The initial portion of the project, scheduled to break ground May 1, will add a 750-space parking lot on an undeveloped area near Cowlitz Crossing, to replacing spaces that will be removed to make room for the garage.
Construction of the garage won’t begin until July, Fox-LaRose said, in order to make sure the replacement spaces are finished first. Casino leaders don’t want the construction project to increase traffic congestion or otherwise affect visitors.
“Ease of access — that’s the key message for us,” she said.
The project is scheduled to be completed in late summer 2020. The finished garage will feature ramps designed for fast access to the upper levels, monitoring systems to notify drivers about how many spaces are left on each floor, and will be built to allow for rooftop events during the summer months.
The immediate purpose of the garage will be to allow ilani to host major shows and events at its Cowlitz Ballroom during peak casino hours on Friday and Saturday nights. The venue seats up to 2,500 people, potentially bringing thousands more cars to the site on top of the usual weekend casino crowd.
The vehicles of Cowlitz Ballroom-goers already fill many of the 3,200 spaces in the existing surface lot. Fox-LaRose said casino leaders have been wary of creating congestion, so ilani schedules most of its biggest shows on less-busy Thursday and Sunday nights.
“We don’t want to run that risk,” she said.
In the long term, the garage will be well-positioned to serve future tribal initiatives and amenities at ilani, Fox-LaRose said, and it’s being designed to allow for an expansion that could bring the total number of spaces up to as many as 4,000.
Tribal and casino leaders have previously mentioned several potential projects, the largest of which would be a hotel connected to the main ilani building, although none of those projects have been announced.
