BAY MILLS — Demolition began this week on the Kings Club Casino building, a landmark on the Bay Mills Indian Reservation and the first tribal casino in the United States to offer slot machines and blackjack.
The casino first opened in July 1984 and operated until early 2020, when it closed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It never reopened.
The site will be redeveloped into retail space with second-floor apartments, Bay Mills Indian Community President Whitney Gravelle confirmed. Demolition is expected to be completed by the end of August.
The process began with members of the local Amish community salvaging materials before heavy equipment arrives next week to bring down the remaining structure.
“Kings Club has a lot of fond memories,” said Richard LeBlanc, general manager of Bay Mills Resort and Casino. “A lot of guests and employees who are long gone now… so it’s by extension a part of who we are as a community. To see it going down now is like an abrupt halt to some of those memories, or at least a rekindling of that.”
Many former Kings Club employees now work at Bay Mills Resort and Casino, the tribe’s larger gaming and hospitality property.
The casino’s closure and the redevelopment project mark the end of an era for a building considered historic by many in the Bay Mills community.
