The Lone Butte Casino is located south of Phoenix in Chandler, Arizona and is owned and operated by the Gila River Indian Community. The newly constructed 120,000 square foot casino opened in December, 2008 and replaces the former location less than a mile away.
Lone Butte offers 850 new slot machines, 24 Las Vegas-style Blackjack and Pai Gow tables, a state-of-the-art 750-seat Bingo Hall, and a High Limit Gaming Area offering privacy and comfort for the high rollers. Visitors to the casino are greeted by a spectacular fabric structure from FabriTec Structures.
FabriTec, in conjunction with Group West Architects and General Contractor JE Dunn, have created a custom framed tensile structure made of PTFE fabric. The 5 tiered, wrapped panels form the porte cochere for the main entrance to the casino. The casino also features two smaller side entry structures as well as an interior fabric structure for the central court of the building. The design of the entryway structure is unique in that the fabric cladding is on the underside of the structural steel elements thus concealing the steel from view below. The cumulative effect of the design is that the structure looks like layers of clouds floating above the entryway. To add to the dramatic appearance, the structure has been built with colorful custom up-lighting which automatically changes and can be controlled for various degrees of evening light and for time of year.