The City’s position was that if a ring road was not built on the Tsuu T’ina lands, then the only alternative was to build the ring road down 37th street SW. The City noted in 2004 that the traffic simulations submitted to the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission by the Nation in support of their application was based on a widened Glenmore Trail (which, now 10 years later, has still not materialised) and out-of-date traffic figures. 37th street SW is also only a residential feeder, and the City thought it unsuitable for access to a development of this sort in terms of capacity. This access point (long considered temporary by the City) was at an intersection on Glenmore Trail that was already at failure due to high traffic. Without a ring road, the only way to get to the casino was via 37th street SW in Lakeview. The City of Calgary always held that the Casino and the Ring Road projects were inexorably linked their position was that the Casino (and the rest of the Masterplan development) could, in the long run, only be served via the ring road and its access roads. The picture below shows the access as it was in 2007, before the new Glenmore Trail / 37th Street SW Interchange was constructed.

The casino was controversial from the very beginning, especially in regards to access.

Groundbreaking on the 84,000 square foot casino was held September 14 2006, and was open to the public in December 2007. The original plans called for a casino, hotel and entertainment complex, and on June 30, 2004, the Nation voted to proceed with the Casino portion. 1996 is the earliest public mention of plans by the Tsuu T’ina to develop a casino, the same year the Harvey Barracks was closed, and a full decade before the land was cleared and returned to the Nation.

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