WHOLE NEW GAME ON COAST.

Byline: Winston Ross The Register-Guard

FLORENCE - Long walks on the beach, saltwater taffy, fresh seafood and ... slot machines?

Coming this summer, visitors here will have a new recreation option, providing lawsuits fail to stop it.

The Three Rivers Casino is almost finished. There are now two entrance points planned - including one right off Highway 126.

The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians will start by installing 225 slot machines and six tables for blackjack. In the next month or two, the tribes will complete the hiring of 160 people. About 600 people have applied for jobs, half from the Florence area.

Originally pitching it as a $26 million project, the tribe has dramatically scaled back its plans, cutting the budget in half and reducing the number of slot machines from initial plans for 850.

That's a "return on investment" decision, economic development director Bob Garcia said. By borrowing less money up front, the tribe can secure a lower interest rate and use profits to pay for expansions, rather than beginning with an enormous debt load, he said.

"This project will have a positive cash flow to the tribe from day one," he said.

But the casino still will arrive with a splash, Garcia said: It will be the third-smallest of the state's nine, but because it's the newest, the Three Rivers Casino will have state-of-the-art accoutrements - including eight different kinds of slot machines.

As it stands, there's a moonscape feel to the project, despite the bustle of construction. The building stands amid a series of dunes on the 98-acre Hatch Tract, just northwest of Highway 126 at North Fork Siuslaw Road.

The 16,000-square-foot, lime-colored dome is a high-tech tent, with an aluminum frame shrouded in mylar for the inner and outer walls.

Its advantages are cost and portability, Garcia said. With future expansions, for example, the structure could easily be converted into a convention center.

But that will happen only if the casino is successful - which is why the tribe is pulling out all the stops to bring people in and keep them at the machines and tables.

The casino's chairs, for example, swing all the way around, have adjustable heights and come on rollers - so if gamblers are attached to a particular seat, they can hang onto it from slot to slot. The tribes paid $340 per seat.

All the slot machines are "ticket-in, ticket-out," which means no coins jingling into trays at the bottom of the slot. If players win, they collect a ticket that they can promptly slide into any other machine in the house to keep playing, rather than having to scoop up the money and haul it around. To cash out, there'll be a light on the slot machine that signals a cashier to come by and dole out winnings. In place of the money trays there's an insert into the base of the machine where people can rest their feet.

As an added enticement, the casino will streamline its "player reward systems," or "comps," as they're known in the industry. These work something like frequent flyer miles to reward players with free items if they gamble more often. The points will be tracked on universal "player's cards," inserted into the slot machines each time someone wants to play a game. The cards accumulate points, and the slots will notify players when they've racked up enough for a free gift.

The machines will even talk: "Welcome, Bob. How are you doing? Would you like a free meal at the buffet?"

"This is about making it comfortable," Garcia said.

For the people who have long opposed the project, there's little comfort involved in watching the Three Rivers Casino come to life - especially when it's literally in their backyards.

Dale Schaffner lives in the Coastal Highlands subdivision, due west of the project. What once was a placid series of sand dunes is now a construction site.

"The dishes rattle around in the cupboards, and literally the entire house vibrates because of the machinery," Schaffner said.

He's developed a long list of concerns beyond the nuisance of construction. Being so close to a center that drains people of their cash, he worries about crime impacts on the neighborhood from desperate gamblers and the long-term effect on his property value.

Garcia said he's talked to the three homeowners who have direct views of the casino from their houses. The tribe is willing to consider paying for ways to block the view, he said.

But one of Schaffner's chief concerns appears moot. At one point, tribal leaders were discussing the possibility of extending Coastal Highlands Drive to the project for access to emergency vehicles. Now, with two access points - one on Highway 126 and the other on the North Fork road - an emergency outlet is unnecessary.

Originally, the casino was planned with an entrance only from North Fork, about a quarter-mile north of Highway 126. But state transportation officials and tribe-hired engineers quickly agreed that the intersection of North Fork and Highway 126 is substandard, said Tom Boyatt, regional planner for the state Department of Transportation.

So the tribe cut a deal with Terry Duman of Duman Excavating, whose shop sits about a quarter-mile west of the intersection, to build a road through his property that will serve as the main access. The tribe will pay for the state's installation of left- and right-hand turn lanes at the intersection, and locals and emergency vehicles can use the North Fork entry point.

Last month, engineers completed a traffic study analyzing the "worst-case" impacts on several intersections in town - including the casino's main entrance off Highway 126. At peak weekday times - a Friday evening, for example - the project could generate 68 trips to and from the casino each hour. The restaurant could generate an additional 29 trips.

On weekends, the casino trips could go as high as 96 per hour, with 29 extra for the restaurant. Overall traffic on Highway 126 would increase from 6,700 average daily trips at that point to 7,280. By comparison, the Fred Meyer on Highway 101 results in 725 cars per hour on weekends and 509 trips per hour during peak weekday times.

These numbers are only for the first phase of construction. If the casino becomes successful enough to reach its full buildout with a hotel and convention center, the project could generate 363 trips per hour on weekdays and 476 per hour on the weekends.

That probably would lead to the addition of a stoplight at the Highway 126 entrance, said Matthew Zoll, an engineer with JRH Transportation Engineering. The tribe is also open to the possibility of completely closing off the North Fork intersection and using the casino entrance at Highway 126 as the access to North Fork - taking traffic right past the project.

In the meantime, the tribe is shopping for advertising companies to kick off the first stage.

"We hope it will grow and prosper," Garcia said. "But there's no timetable for that."

Sally Wantz, who moved to town last fall from Denver, will be screening most of the job applicants as the casino's human resource supervisor. She said she loves the job, but gets a mixed reaction from residents when she tells them she works at the casino.

PATH TO CASINO

1994: The 700-member Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians negotiate a compact with state of Oregon that would allow a casino on six acres of reservation land in Coos Bay; tribe abandons plan after Coquille Tribe opens Mill Casino first

1995-1997: Tribe seeks to build a casino in Springfield and later at site of Windward Inn in Florence; both plans are scrapped in face of local opposition and state policy against off-reservation gaming sites

1998: Tribe buys 98 acres outside Florence city limits, where a Siuslaw Indian village once stood; Bureau of Indian Affairs, under U.S. Department of Interior, takes the land into trust for nongaming purposes

1999: Tribe seeks approval for gaming; Interior denies application, arguing that "restored land" had to be taken into trust before Oct. 17, 1988, when Indian Gaming Regulatory Act became law; the tribe sues Interior

2000: Federal judge rules in favor of tribe, asks Interior to reconsider

Dec. 5, 2001: Interior restores Hatch Tract for gaming, citing tribes' long ties to the land

April 2002: Oregon sues Interior, claiming Secretary Gale Norton didn't have right to allow gaming on Hatch Tract

July 2003: Federal judge rejects state's lawsuit, which appears to be final government hurdle

September: People Against a Casino Town files suit against the casino, arguing that state constitution forbids casinos

November: Oregon Supreme Court sends PACT's lawsuit back to Lane County Circuit Court

December: Tribe breaks ground, announcing scaled-back project; the same week, PACT files a second lawsuit in county court

January 2004: Circuit Court rejects PACT's second lawsuit to block casino

March: PACT files third lawsuit to stop the project

Early summer: Casino scheduled to open

CAPTION(S):

The Three Rivers Casino perches amid a series of sand dunes on the 98-acre Hatch Tract, just northwest of Highway 126 at North Fork Siuslaw Road in Florence. When completed, the building will include areas for gaming, offices and a restaurant. Three Rivers Casino An artist's rendering shows the work that remains on the casino.