Celebrating Eagle Mountain’s Successful Year
Click Here to Read the Feature Article in Indian Gaming Magazine’s June/July Design/Build Issue
Celebrating its first full year in operation, the Tule River Tribe’s relocation of its Eagle Mountain Casino from the original reservation location to a more accessible and visible site in Porterville, California, represents a significant milestone in the tribe’s history. Driven by a blend of strategic, economic, and site motivations, the casino relocation became a transformative initiative that unlocked new opportunities for community growth and market differentiation through cultural integration. Featuring architectural and interior design by HBG Design, the new Eagle Mountain Casino is well-positioned to capture vast market opportunities from local customers and traffic traveling among the region’s major cities.
Drawing from unique regional elements and the tribe’s rich cultural heritage, the design team at HBG Design set out to create an entertainment escape with an authentic sense of character that connects people to place. The new Eagle Mountain Casino provides over 100,000 square feet of amenity features that include 1,750 slots, 20 table games, multiple dining venues including the Ember center bar, the Redwood Taphouse, The River Steakhouse, the Acorn Diner, Yokuts Coffee House, and the Cedar Food Court, as well as a 2,000-seat event center. These amenities not only enhance the casino’s entertainment appeal, but also address community wishes, such as meeting a need for a large venue space that could cater to sporting and entertainment events.
Inspired by relaxed lodge aesthetics, the casino’s design expression exudes a sense of comfort, approachability, and hospitality. The tribe’s indigenous homeland is where the Great Sequoia tree grows. The Sequoia’s canopy, trunk, and roots became inspirational elements to link the story of the tribe’s culture and heritage to the design aesthetics, from the arrival experience to the art, patterns, and imagery within. Soaring vertical features recall the majesty of the Giant Sequoia and the Golden Eagle. Entry water features and flowing forms recall the winding Tule River and organic curves of nature.
Inside, guests are greeted by a grand redwood carving of the tribal Big Foot pictograph, known as “Big Foot Hairy Man”, symbolizing the tribe’s deep-rooted traditions. Carved by Bill Farmer, a Tule River Tribal Member, the material for the Big Foot carving came from a giant Redwood that had fallen across one of the roads on the Tule Reservation.
Historical tribal basket patterns adorn custom pendent light fixtures, ceilings soffits, and custom terrazzo floor medallions, serving as a wayfinding guide toward the entertainment offerings within.
The Flight of the Butterfly and Quail Tufts is a prominent Tule River tribal motif that intertwines through the casino culminating at the Ember Bar ceiling soffit with a silhouette mountain design that mimics the regional landscape. The vertical Ember bar design represents the elements of wood and fire, symbolizing hospitality, a place where the community can gather, relax, and socialize.
The HBG Design team is honored to have worked alongside the Tule River Tribe since 2015 in the design and delivery of the new Eagle Mountain Casino. Throughout the process, Tule River stakeholders immersed HBG designers in tribal culture and heritage research and graciously embraced conceptual storytelling as it extends into the architectural and interior design aesthetic. This personal integration creates a one-of-a-kind, memorable experience for Eagle Mountain Casino guests. #Eagle Mountain’s Successful Year One