Subsequent time you’re driving the Grapevine and nearing the forest of oil rigs on the outskirts of Bakersfield, search for a six-story guitar.
That might be the Arduous Rock On line casino Tejon, whose opening on Thursday brings industrial-strength Indian gaming — and a few Hollywood pizzazz — to a territory higher recognized for cowboy hats, farmland and petroleum extraction.
The Tejon on line casino stands within the rural group of Mettler, close to the convergence of Interstate 5 and State Route 99 — “a stone’s throw away” from Los Angeles, advised Arduous Rock On line casino Tejon President Chris Kelley.
In impact, the on line casino is a $600-million guess by leaders of Arduous Rock Worldwide and the Tejon Indian Tribe that they will seize a central position among the many many Indian casinos in Southern California.
The property is the primary full-scale gaming and leisure vacation spot in Kern County.
(Makenzie Beeney Images for Arduous Rock Worldwide)
A wind sculpture on the entrance of the on line casino.
(Cristian Costea for Arduous Rock Worldwide)
The draw? Most notably, 150,000 sq. ft of gaming house — together with 58 desk video games and greater than 2,000 slot machines — placing it among the many largest casinos in Southern California, on par with many alongside the Strip in Las Vegas.
And, after all, as a result of this can be a Arduous Rock enterprise, there are pop music artifacts on show. Amongst them: the blue hooded velvet mini gown Sabrina Carpenter wore in her “Please Please Please” music video, signed guitars from Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt, Beck’s tambourine and Natalie Cole’s orange excessive heels.
The on line casino additionally consists of 4 eating places serving Asian avenue meals, tacos, pizza and American consolation meals (particularly Nashville sizzling rooster) — and a bonus function. At choose hours, Kelley stated, employees will put up a divider to create Deep Minimize, a fancier “speakeasy restaurant” that may emphasize steak and seafood.
“That is one thing no different Arduous Rock Cafe has … a restaurant inside a restaurant,” stated Kelley, main a tour within the days earlier than opening.
Stay-action desk video games embody blackjack, craps, roulette and baccarat.
(Makenzie Beeney Images for Arduous Rock Worldwide)
Plans for the second section of the venture will embody a 400-room resort and spa on-site, together with a 2,800-seat Arduous Rock Stay venue designed to host live shows, sporting occasions and in the end make Kern County a premier vacation spot for vacationers and followers. Officers declined to share a timeline for this subsequent installment.
Although its international empire started with a London cafe in 1971, Arduous Rock Worldwide has been owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida since 2007. The corporate’s native possession was “a serious affect” on the Tejon tribe’s resolution to staff up, stated Tejon Tribal Chairman Octavio Escobedo III. Arduous Rock On line casino Tejon is owned by the Tejon Indian Tribe and is managed by Arduous Rock Worldwide.
For the Tejon tribe and its 1,523 enrolled members, the on line casino quantities to a brand new chapter in a saga stuffed with challenges. Within the 1850s, the Tejon had been included within the creation of California’s first Indian reservation — which was then closed by federal officers within the 1860s. Greater than a century later, in 1979, the tribe was omitted from a U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs checklist of formally acknowledged tribes — an obvious mistake that took many years to appropriate.
When the Tejon did win federal recognition in late 2011, gaming plans materialized shortly. By late 2016, the tribe had set in movement the acquisition of the on line casino web site.
The restaurant Deep Minimize is billed as an “elevated steakhouse expertise.”
(Makenzie Beeney Images for Arduous Rock Worldwide)
For the tribe, Escobedo stated, the long-term image seemingly consists of growing a residential group — which the Tejon haven’t had for greater than a century — because the tribe goals for “monetary sovereignty.” Although he declined to specify the amount of cash that will require, he did say “it’s going to take an amazing quantity of monetary self-discipline to realize that.”
Thus far, issues really feel promising. Escobedo stated 52 tribal members have signed on to work at on line casino jobs and “I’d like to see that quantity double over the following yr or so.”
Lengthy earlier than the Seminoles purchased management of Arduous Rock Worldwide, the tribe pioneered Indian gaming within the U.S., starting with a bingo corridor in Hollywood, Fla., in 1979. Via additional funding and authorized victories rooted in tribal sovereignty, tribes in 29 states throughout the U.S. have constructed a whole lot of gaming operations, which collectively gross greater than $40 billion yearly.
Past its potentialities for the Tejon tribe, the arrival of the on line casino means about 1,100 new jobs for larger Bakersfield, which misplaced a beloved leisure venue in August when Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace closed after 29 years.
Owens, who died in 2006, was a longtime resident of Bakersfield and proponent of the gritty “Bakersfield sound” in nation music. In addition to artifacts from pop music, rock ’n’ roll and Tejon cultural historical past, Kelley stated, “We’re going to have some Buck Owens memorabilia. It simply wouldn’t be proper to not.”
