Chin’an Gaming Hall Expansion Adds Food, Games
Electronic bingo is enough to attract curious customers to Chugiak.
Photo Credit: Chin’an Gaming Hall
Alaska’s only casino-style electronic gaming destination is a little grander. The Native Village of Eklutna (NVE) opened an expanded facility last week adjacent to its Chin’an Gaming Hall near the Birchwood Airport.
Scaling Up to Meet Demand
The multi-million-dollar expansion includes a food truck, the Fireweed Grill, with covered seating on Chin’an’s new heated patio. With nearly 5,000 feet of new floor space, Chin’an also added eighty-nine new gaming machines staffed with thirty-eight new employees, more than doubling the workforce at the gaming hall.
“Our ability to grow the Chin’an Gaming Hall less than two years after opening our doors for the first time is 100 percent because of the incredible support we have received from our guests across the Anchorage area, Alaska, and the world,” says NVE President Aaron Leggett. “This expansion to the Gaming Hall will only enhance our ability to provide our guests with a wonderful experience and add to the resources we have to benefit our Tribal members and the broader community.”
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June 2026
NVE opened a scaled-down project in February 2025, as soon as possible after the National Indian Gaming Commission approved a proposal for a casino on a Native allotment in July 2024. NVE has bigger plans for a 50,000-square-foot casino on Birchwood Spur Road with two restaurants and 700 video gaming machines, such as electronic bingo and pull tabs, but not any traditional gambling tables.
“Chin’an Gaming Hall is providing generational change for our Tribe. It is something we have worked toward for decades. Today we celebrated not just the opening of a new building, but the tireless years of work put in by many dedicated people who are not able to join us today but contributed greatly to this moment,” Leggett says. “We are grateful to everyone who has helped make the Chin’an Gaming Hall what it is, and we strive to share the benefits it provides with our Tribe and those around us.”
The expansion is meant to better meet market demand while generating revenue for charitable causes until the full-scale gaming hall is ready.
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