Cheney Free Press -

AIRWAY HEIGHTS—The Kalispel Tribe announced an expansion project that includes a new hotel wing with nearly 200 new rooms at Northern Quest Resort & Casino today, Nov. 23.

Completion on the project is scheduled for 2023, according to a press release from the casino. The tribe plans to break ground in March 2021.

“For the past several years, we’ve been running at consistently high occupancy in our hotel,” Northern Quest general manager Nick Pierre said in the press release. “While meetings and events business has taken a big hit in the past eight months, we are confident things will bounce back in the coming months and years, returning us to the kind of demand we were seeing in 2019 and early 2020.”

Pierre said the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the announcement of the expansion project.

The new hotel wing will be adjacent and west of the current hotel tower and add 190 rooms and suites. Overall hotel capacity will increase to over 440 rooms.

The wing will be five connected buildings inspired by a Native American fish weir, which the press release said is “often constructed by groups of Tribal Members and used as a community-focused fishing technique where Native peoples could gather to fish, trade and celebrate.”

The new rooms will be similar to current rooms at Northern Quest. The new hotel will be connected to the current hotel on the northwest side by a skywalk.

The casino expects the project to bring hundreds of temporary construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs to Northern Quest. The tribe’s master plan features a possible addition of a 30,000 foot-plus conference schedule.

Lydig Construction and Inegrus Architecture, both of Spokane, and Ankrom Moisan of Seattle make up the design-build team. Other partners, according to the press release, include Coffman Enginers, Parametrix, MW Engineers and The Society.

“Every project we’re adding at the Northern Quest property brings us one step closer to realizing our vision of becoming the ultimate destination resort,” Pierre said.