The Nisqually tribe's Red Wind casino experienced a growth spurt in the past week from its humbler roots in 1997.

The casino that began in a converted 9,000-square-foot bingo hall grew into a full-fledged 85,000-square-foot casino with the completion of a $31 million expansion last week.

Red Wind's growth is in keeping with a trend at the South Sound's two other tribal casinos.

The Squaxin Island tribe's Little Creek Casino near Shelton added a $16-million, 92-room hotel in February, while the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation are in the midst of adding a $7-million, 70-room hotel to the Lucky Eagle casino in Rochester.

Bill Nucciarone, director of marketing and acting general manager of Red Wind, said it has drawn from a radius of about 30 miles from its location at 12819 Yelm Highway. He's confident it now will draw from a wider range, but played down competition from Little Creek and Lucky Eagle.

The Red Wind, he said, had simply run out of space and amenities to satisfy its growing clientele.

"We're growing to meet the demands of our customers," he said.

John Setterstrom, general manager of the Lucky Eagle casino, has noticed Red Wind's expansion, however.

"It would be foolish for us not to look at our competition seriously," he said.

The South Sound market is limited, Setterstrom said. "You have three casinos in a market that would support one large casino," he said. "We're in a market that is very limited."

Setterstrom and spokesmen for Little Creek say they're adding hotels in part because they're farther from Olympia than Red Wind. In that regard, they believe the Lucky Eagle and Little Creek casinos need to become more convenient destinations than the Red Wind, which is about a 10-minute drive from Interstate 5. Setterstrom expects the Lucky Eagle's hotel to open in late spring.

The Red Wind caters to local gamblers and has not announced plans for a hotel.

In the original Red Wind, gamblers had just a café for refreshments. But in the larger casino, they have a far wider array of ways to fill time between gambling.

It features a buffet, a restaurant and grill and a deli as well as an espresso bar. A four-level parking garage accented by a rock waterfall on an outer wall has replaced a shuttle service that linked a parking lot north of Yelm Highway with the casino.

The new casino also will add regular live entertainment in its new cabaret.

Enhancing the Red Wind's food services was a key consideration, Nucciarone said.

"For people who come here from longer distances, good food is part of the motivation to make the trip," he said.

The Red Wind closed Wednesday as part of a last-minute rush to stock the new casino with more tables and electronic wagering games. It reopened on Thursday.

The Red Wind has grown from fewer than 300 machines to 675 and has nearly doubled the number of gaming tables from 12 in the original casino to 23, Nucciarone said.

As workers prepared for a grand reopening, security employee Glenn Badger reflected on how growing demand motivated the Red Wind's expansion.

"I remember when there was sage brush in the parking lot," he joked. "This is a big step for us. We're thrilled it's happening."