In June of 2000 the Seminole Tribe reached an agreement with Hard Rock Café to convert their casino property into a more amplified setting. A Sheraton Four Points was to become a Hard Rock Hotel in time for the Tampa Super Bowl. The project was sidelined even through the then standing hotel was leveled. In 2002, along with the water tower, Bobby's Seminole Indian Village, Museum and Gift Shop also became a ghost rider in the sky while the reservation's drive through smoke shop was relocated to a trailer on one corner of the construction project. The Seminole tribe is spending an estimated $350 million in wampum, funded through bonds, to create a rocking 24-hour gambling palace complete with shops and a water park on their Tampa reservation.
The idea of combining rock 'n roll and Indian culture is not new to the Seminoles. They rang in the new millennium with a concert by Phish and 80,000 of their fans at the tribe's Big Cypress reservation. Their chief has also been noted as producing an album of Native American music under the direction of the founder of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Update 7/03
Big Joe's was named after a 14-foot gator that lived and died on the Tampa reservation. It is the only reference to Indian history you will find in the place. The village's chickee huts, nature boardwalk, gator wrestling, and souvenir shop, have all gone on to the spirit in the sky.
The new gambling hall, which can withstand a category four hurricane, can hardly withstand the amount of traffic it is already receiving. The one and only parking garage overflows on the weekends and it is near impossible to find an empty machine to play.
The only part of this project Back on Tack is waiting to place its bet on is the entrance. Once completed, the front doors to the building will be accented by two giant guitars crossed at the handles. Pow wows will never be the same.
Casino grand opening is slated for April 2004.
Seminole Indian Casino |
"The goal is to create a destination point for people to start planning their vacation," said Tim Cox, the tribe's operations officer. "The Seminole Indian reservation will pop into their minds."