Standish is hailed as "The Gateway to Northeast Michigan." Its location off the I-75/US-23 junction spills travelers onto the Lake Huron shoreline. But the region's rural, tourism-reliant economy is among the most-depressed in the state. Lower Pennisula as a whole, including Arenac County, ran March unemployment rates of 12 percent, state labor statistics show.
Tom Ferguson is director of Michigan's Sunrise Side Travel Association, which promotes tourism in the northeastern Lower Pennisula. The casino void has hurt the region's ability to compete for travelers, he said. "It's one of the questions we get asked a lot, do we have a casino?" Ferguson agrees that a casino near Standish will get people off northbound I-75 and onto highway US-23, hopefully benefiting hotels and restaurants on the route.
Areas to the south, too - Pinconning in particular - are poised to feel the casino's impact. It's this city's I-75 exit, not Standish's, that marks the most-direct path for casino-bound travelers from the south. "The traffic potential for us is phenomenal, and it'll put them directly through our downtown," Pinconning Mayor Mike Duranczyk said. "Three hundred jobs? Most with benefits?" he continued. "A person would be foolish to look down on that. This is a great thing for the region."
Farther south, Bay City leaders say the Chippewa's decision to build on its Saganing Reservation is a blow. Some had hopes for a casino at the Uptown at RiversEdge site. "It's one step forward for the Standish area and one step back for Bay City," said Arthur P. Dore, a Bay City businessman.
While Dore and some Bay City commissioners vow to continue promoting a casino plan locally, some acknowledged the Saginaw Chippewa had ruled out the city. "They told me we wouldn't have been a consideration because the logistics aren't here," said Bay City 7th Ward Commissioner Marie T. Kurzer. She added that tribal leaders told her Bay City is too close to Mount Pleasant. Negotiating a casino site outside tribal lands is also a tough, complicated task that could take a decade. "At least the Standish casino is close enough to Bay City to benefit northern Bay County," Kurzer said.
It isn't clear if the casino is the start of a much larger development in Standish. Tribal leaders say they have no plans currently beyond the casino itself. But in the months preceding the casino announcement, real estate sales are spiking in Arenac County.
Among them is 25 acres owned by Ron Krzyzaniak and his son, located next to the Saganing Community Center, across from the casino site. Krzyzaniak said his family got an offer they couldn't refuse. "Money talks," the farmer said. "(Martin Investment Properties) offered a whole lot more than the tribe. It's going to make a nice retirement for us."
Standish Supervisor Trombley, meanwhile, suggested land sales may be the first in a wave; he knows of recent surveys and tax inquiries on a total of 17 township parcels.
Many acknowledge the Chippewas have the resources to add a resort hotel, or more, to the blueprint. Their Arenac County land holdings include Saginaw Bay access. And the casino site sits just a half mile from the waterfront at White's Beach. "It's the only casino this side of the state that's close to the water," said Floyd Bender of White's Beach. "They have a lot of possibilities with their access to Saginaw Bay."
John Helmholdt is a spokesman for an anti-casino group in Grand Rapids called 23 Is Enough! The group maintains that casinos do more financial harm than good to their communities, he said.
Perhaps, but many Standish area business owners don't buy Helmboldt's argument. It's hard to argue, they say, with a tribe running a casino as successful as the sprawling Soaring Eagle Casino. It's hard to argue too, locals say, with a business that pays its tribal members, the Saganing branch included. Many Saganing members have moved from dilapidated shacks to good quality homes, and are getting access to health care, cultural and educational services at the tribe's Saganing Community Center. Finally, it's hard to argue with 300 jobs, locals say. "Bring it on. Let's get this town going," says Standish gift shop owner Ruth Caldwell.
By Helen Lounsbury and Eric English, The Bay City Times, April 29th, 2007
