By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
CHEROKEE, N.C. – The Tribal Bingo Project is back on following a halt in construction that lasted a few weeks due to a right-of-way and easement dispute. A day after officials announced that the project was put on hold indefinitely, construction will commence again in about a week with the building – which has yet to be started – being moved slightly on the lot to avoid an encroachment of the adjacent property.
Leaders of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) broke ground on The Boundary Bingo & Slots Class II gaming establishment in Elawodi (Yellowhill) in Cherokee, N.C. on the afternoon of Feb. 24. The 35,000 square foot building, a project of the Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise (TCGE) and Tribal Bingo Enterprise (TBE), is set to offer bingo, Class II gaming machines, and a concession area and is still scheduled to open in summer 2027.
A three-hour special session of Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) was held on Thursday, April 9 to discuss Res. No. 182 (2026), submitted by Dinilawigi as a whole, for the purpose of “establishing an easement for ingress, egress, and utilities over leased property”. Read more about this session here.
The property in question is being leased by Collette Coggins, Barry Coggins, and Corey Coggins and is the site of Native Brews Tap & Grill.
After much discussion during the special session, Tommy Lambert, TCGE chairperson, stated that the project would be halted indefinitely and another site would be selected to build the facility. A day later, things were worked out.
Lambert happily told the One Feather on the afternoon of Friday, April 10, “We’ll use the same site that we’re at. So, we will stay mobilized on that site. The only thing we’re going to do is we’ll reposition the building some so that we’re not encroaching on the backside of it. We spoke with the general contractor and their design and construction team and got all of them back on board after a lot of discussion and some additions to their contract that we would help them out.”
He said construction activity should continue in the next 7 to 10 days. “The downed trees that are up there will be all cleared up. Tribal Construction is going to clear those trees up and we’ll do some native hydro seeding back there. It is just a matter of moving the building. We’ll move it about 50 to 75 feet forward and about 25 feet to the right-hand side toward the Parkway. We were sitting at the very back of the lot anyway.”
Lambert said the project should be on time even with the construction delay. “We had a few weeks built into our timeline so we think if we can get remobilized and get things going that we can still hit the 2027 timeline that we had published up there – Summer 2027. The parking will have to be reworked. We were going to rework the parking some anyway, but we’ll have to rework the parking just a little bit more.”
The legislation discussed during Thursday’s meeting (Res. No. 182) states in part, “In Lease No. S52-2451-19/44, by and between the Tribe as Lessor and Collette Coggins, Barry Coggins, and Corey Coggins as Lessees, as amended by the parties and approved by the Tribal Business Committee and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Lessor and Lessees were each granted, in general terms, a right-of-way over the leased property for reasonable and common ingress, egress, and utilities; and the Tribe hereby exercises its rights to establish the right-of-way and easement referenced in the lease.”
At the end of the session, Res. No. 182 was withdrawn by Dinilawigi by a vote of 8-0 with four absent including: Dinilawigi Gahvsgi (Tribal Council Chairman) Jim Owle, Kolanvyi (Big Cove) Rep. Venita Wolfe, Elawodi (Yellowhill) Rep. Shennelle Feather, and Wayohi (Wolftown) Rep. Mike Parker.
Robert Saunooke, an EBCI tribal member and attorney for the Coggins, told the One Feather on Friday, April 10, “We have only asked for communication. And as of now, that still has not occurred. We support tribal progress and will not stand in the way of things that hopefully will benefit the entire tribe. We continue to want to work to resolve the mistake and the actions unilaterally taken by the tribe and hope the tribe will work with us for a resolution that benefits everyone. In the meantime, we’ll be taking no legal action to stop the progress already begun to complete the bingo hall as soon as possible.”
