As a result, the tribe is upgrading substandard roads, housing, and our domestic water system, installing lines to connect with the regional wastewater treatment system to which we pay our way. The Pechanga Resort and Casino has been the main source of tribal government funding for long-needed and previously unaffordable infrastructure on the reservation. An 18-hole championship golf course is also in the development stage. The new casino also features 2,000 slot machines, 60 card tables and 15 poker tables. Linked together in an architectural design that subtly highlights the tribe's Luiseño culture, the facility includes: an 85,000-square foot casino, 1,200-seat bingo hall, 515,000 square-foot, 14-story, 522-room hotel and 38,800 square-foot convention center, 1,200-seat showroom, 200-seat cabaret lounge, and seven restaurants. The doors of the new facility opened in June 2002 to a capacity crowd. In early 2001, the Pechanga Development Corporation, tribal council and Gaming Commission broke ground to build the $262 million Pechanga Resort & Casino complex. The Pechanga Development Corporation views gaming as a means to create jobs and to achieve long-term economic diversification and independence for the tribe.
