Casino outside of Cuba reopens after four years

Feb. 18—A casino outside of Cuba that closed four years ago has reopened — part of what Apache Nugget Corp. believes is a larger development plan for the region.

The Apache Nugget Travel Center & Casino, located at U.S. 550 and N.M. 537, closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lot sat empty for years until Jicarilla Apache Nation President Adrian Notsinneh decided he was ready to see the casino filled with patrons.

“The casino that we have now in place is, in a way, not really a grand opening but a reopening,” Notsinneh said during the opening ceremony last week. “It was hard to get some people to apply for these jobs, but we got it done.”

The casino is filled with a new selection of 80 slot machines, alongside other amenities intended to bring a fresh, elevated feel to the gaming site, said Tony J. Amormino, president and CEO of Apache Nugget.

One of the additions to the Apache Nugget Travel Center & Casino is a race and sportsbook. Amormino also said plumbing, audio and visual, heating and air conditioning units, and wall paint have all been updated.

“This is only phase one,” Notsinneh said. “This is going to be bigger than our casino. I’m envisioning between 400-500 machines along with a hotel and that’s coming down the road.”

The next closest casino is the San Felipe Pueblo-owned Black Mesa, which is roughly an hour and a half away.

“I’m excited for New Mexico to see what we offer,” Amormino said. “I’m excited to have our future residents have a place to go, have amenities, have things to do in the area. We’re looking to drive tourism and revenue up for northern New Mexico.”

Outside of gaming activities, the Apache Nugget Travel Center & Casino hopes to move toward other forms of entertainment, such as shows and concerts.

“We’re trying to revamp and really start to push our gaming expectations and our amenities to greater facets,” Amormino said, like “having basketball tournaments, having large conferences — making this a destination, not just for folks in the greater Albuquerque area, but for the United States, for North America.”