News

Deadwood’s Midnight Star sold by Costner, to reopen in July

DEADWOOD | The Midnight Star Gaming Emporium, once known as the “Highlight of Deadwood,” will illuminate the Northern Black Hills community once again.

The iconic casino, sports bar and restaurant, opened in 1991 by actor Kevin Costner at 677 Main St., has been purchased by a small ownership group with ties to South Dakota and a successful feed and grain business, with plans to restore the once-gleaming entertainment venue with a projected reopening in early July.

According to the Lawrence County Register of Deeds, a document transferring the three-story building from Midnight Star Enterprises to Lamar Feed & Grain, LLC was recorded on Feb. 4, with filing fees translating to a $1,601,000 purchase price.

The Deadwood City Commission also approved the transfer of the liquor license from Midnight Star Enterprises to Lamar Feed & Grain LLC in early February.

The new owners plan to renovate the first-floor casino, a second-floor sports bar known as Diamond Lil’s and a third-floor fine-dining restaurant formerly called Jakes.

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Kevin Costner’s Dunbar Property Sells

DEADWOOD — A 687-acre parcel of land that lies north of the Lodge at Deadwood and runs to the corner that contains the Rock Shop near the Deadwood city limits, formerly owned by Kevin Costner and for sale for five years, has sold.

Preacher Smith, LLC, comprised of Randy and Cheri Horner of Bismarck, N.D., and Larry Cottier of Torrington, Wyo., are the new owners of the property, purchasing it from Kevin Costner, and say they plan to develop it in phases.

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Preacher Smith LLC has purchased the 687-acre Dunbar property from Kevin Costner, which includes most of the property north of the Lodge to roughly the northernmost city limits gateway to Deadwood, including the Preacher Smith monument area. Pioneer photo by Jaci Conrad Pearson

The tourism town of Deadwood could get a big boost if a proposed $40 million western-style theme park were to open.

Proposed $40M western theme park could energize Deadwood and Black Hills economy

DEADWOOD | Labeled a potential “game-changer” for this Northern Hills tourist town, a proposed $40 million western-style theme park could attract thousands of new visitors to the Black Hills and give them a reason to stay even longer, project backers say.

According to preliminary plans, put forward by a group investors with possible guidance from industry experts, the proposed “Gold Nugget Theme Park” attraction would be a multi-use theme park and historical venue that could open in 2019 and be located off U.S. Highway 85 near The Lodge at Deadwood, or at a tract of open land in Whitewood Canyon.

Deadwood Mayor Chuck Turbiville said Friday he was excited to learn more about the project at an upcoming public meeting set for July 18 in Deadwood.

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Bad days at Black Hills for developer Costner:

Lakota Sioux object to the movie star’s proposed land swap in what’s considered tribal territory.

DEADWOOD, S.D. — In the final scene of “Dances With Wolves,” a Lakota warrior sits on horseback, atop a limestone cliff in the Black Hills. Wind In His Hair shouts to his departing white comrade, Lt. Dunbar: “Can you not see that you will always be my friend?”

Always? In the movies, maybe. In real life, Kevin Costner’s relationship with the Lakota Sioux has hit a rocky patch.

Indians in South Dakota are angry about Costner’s proposed land swap with the U.S. Forest Service. “It’s our treaty land,” says Virginia White Calf, a 41-year-old activist who likes to remind people she’s a grandmother. “The Black Hills are not for sale–or swap.”

Like most Native American land issues, this one is complicated.

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