The 44-acre project site, which is located 90 minutes east of Los Angeles and 20 minutes west of Palm Springs, rests in a valley pass between the scenic San Gorgonio and San Jacinto mountain ranges.

Marked by a sweeping porte cochere of illuminated, overlapping, petal-like arcs and incorporating a 23-story hotel with a two-story penthouse restaurant and lounge with panoramic views of the surrounding mountain ranges and desert floor, Jerde's design concept for the hotel/casino uses the forces of nature as design inspiration.

"The Morongo tribe's goal was to create a world-class resort that would offer visitors a high-quality experience and a full range of entertainment and recreational options that the entire family could enjoy," said Maurice Lyons, Morongo tribal chairman. "We also wanted a design that brought a piece of paradise to the desert, creating a concept that is both beautiful and unique."

The destination resort, encompassing more than 600,000 square-feet, will feature multiple restaurant facilities, a nightclub, ballrooms, convention facilities and retail space.

Recreational amenities will include a swimming pool with sandy beaches and water slides, lush gardens, extensive landscaping, a children's arcade center and approximately 3,500 parking spaces for patrons and guests. The hotel will have 272 standard rooms, 32 double bay suites and six luxury casitas arrayed around an upper level private pool that overlooks an oasis.

To date, the new Morongo resort is the largest economic development project undertaken by the tribe which is the largest employer in the San Gorgonio Pass region.

"This project will provide a tremendous economic boost to the area for decades to come, said Lyons. "We are proud to be able to develop both a world class destination for our patrons and a project that will bring hundreds of new jobs and millions of dollars in new tourism dollars to the area."

A recent economic impact analysis conducted by prominent regional economist Dr. John Husing estimated that jobs directly or indirectly attributable to all of the economic operations of the Morongo will rise from approximately 1,726 jobs in 2002 to approximately 5,800 when the destination resort is fully operational.

"The tribe's contributions to the economy are substantial," said Husing. "For the next five-year period ending in 2008, during which time the new casino hotel resort would be built and become operational, the total economic impact brought to the Inland Empire area would be an impressive $2.8 billion. This would include the creation of more than 4,000 new jobs and $1.4 billion in new goods and services purchased."

The study estimated the range of total economic impact of Morongo tribal activities to be from $291.1 million in 2002 to $626.1 million in 2008.

"As part of the state's tribal gaming industry, we are proud to be a major contributor to the seventh largest economy in the world," said Morongo tribal council member Robert Martin. "No other segment of the California economy achieved double-digit employment growth in the past year. At a time when the state economy is languishing, tribal gaming generated more than a 12 percent increase in jobs. By contrast, the civilian labor force statewide for 2002 grew only .7 percent."

Infrastructure associated with the hotel/casino project will include new roads, an extension of the tribe's own water system, natural gas and electricity connections, and connection to a wastewater facility located elsewhere on the Morongo Indian Reservation.

"The tribe will be funding all of the infrastructure costs associated with construction of the Morongo casino resort hotel complex including the road extensions," said Tom Linton, Morongo's planning director who is overseeing the project together with the tribal council. "We are working closely with the county to ensure easy-to-navigate freeway and road access as well as smooth traffic flow."

The Morongo's casino resort hotel's design was inspired by the natural landscape of the area and features three sequential design zones that patrons will move through as they enter the facility -- a transition area, a transformation area and an oasis area. Each area features organic shapes, earthen tones, landscaping and natural materials.

The transition zone extends from the nearby 10 freeway across the site to the casino/hotel entry, at which point the transformation zone begins. The transformation zone occurs within the casino resort hotel building. The interior decor and dramatic lighting of the casino area and throughout the complex will represent nature as the force of transformation. The oasis zone will be a protected environment where guests can view the severe beauty of the mountain desert and enjoy the surroundings of a lushly planted pool area, complete with sandy beaches, water slides, and shady cabanas all framed within the dramatic view of the mountains beyond.

"I wanted to create a design for Morongo that celebrates the transition from the desert into a cool oasis," said Jon A. Jerde, (FAIA). "Virtually all of the landscaping will be drought tolerant and reflecting the oasis concept, the landscaping will become greener and more intense as you travel closer to the building."

Jerde noted that one of the most distinctive features of the site is the elegant entry canopy. The canopy resembles plant shapes that are a product of the sun's energy transforming the earth into a verdant paradise through photosynthesis. These features will illuminate at night.

A pioneer in Indian gaming, the Morongo tribe began using gaming as a means of economic development in 1983. A 1987 Supreme Court case, led by the Cabazon and Morongo tribes, confirmed the right of American Indian tribes to offer gaming on Indian reservations. Subsequently, Morongo's casino facility blossomed from a modest bingo hall into one of the nation's top gaming properties. Casino Morongo is not only one of the largest and oldest tribal casinos in the country but the first in California to offer slots machines after the passage of Proposition 1A.

"I know our patrons will be very pleased with the expansive 148,000 square foot state-of-the-art casino featuring a complete selection of the latest slot machines, table games as well as rooms for bingo and poker," said Bill Davis, general manager at the present Casino Morongo. Davis oversees a facility that plays host to more than 1.5 million visitors annually. Last month alone, Casino Morongo paid out over $89 million in slot machine winnings while table games paid patrons close to a million dollars in bonuses and jackpots.

In addition to the latest unveiling of plans for the $250 million Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians has diversified their economy over the past decade to include:

• Hadley Fruit Orchards, both retail and direct mail operations 
• The Morongo Travel Center, a major service station and convenience store serving travelers 
• A&W Root Beer Restaurant, one of the country's most successful Coco's Restaurant 
• A partnership with Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water to operate a water bottling facility on Morongo reservation land

In 2002, the National Indian Gaming Association reported that tribal casinos were operating in 29 states and generated more than $12.7 billion in revenues.