Players gamble on Class II gaming devices at the planned site for The Cedars at Bear Creek casino in south Medford on Tuesday.

The Coquille Indian Tribe didn’t waste any time offering video game gambling in Medford starting Sunday in the wake of a U.S. Department of Interior decision last week paving the way for a Class II-type casino.

“It’s been 12 years, and we’re not waiting any longer,” said Ray Doering, director of public affairs and compliance with Tribal One, part of the Coquille tribe. “We wanted to establish that this is what we’re doing.”

The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, owners of Seven Feathers Casino and Resort in Canyonville, on Tuesday referred to the Coquille move as an operation that started “illegally in the dark of night.”

A Rogue Valley Times visit Tuesday afternoon to Roxy’s Bar & Grill, 2375 South Pacific Highway next to Compass Hotel Medford by Margaritaville, also owned by the tribe, found about 30 new Class II gaming machines positioned inside the building that formerly housed Roxy Ann Lanes.

Doering said the gaming had started with about 12 video machines.

On Tuesday afternoon, many of the available machines were in use, with more being wheeled in, though one-third were temporarily unavailable. About 20 customers were in the gaming area.

The bowling lanes were walled off, and workers on ladders connected wiring and were setting up the new gaming area.

The proposed The Cedars at Bear Creek would involve remodeling the Coquille Tribe-owned Roxy Ann Lanes into a gaming facility that would include a 16,000-square-foot gaming floor with gaming machines, a bar and other services.

Class II gaming machines include video gambling based on bingo, which are different than the Class III slot machines in Vegas. The Coquille plan does not include table games such as blackjack, poker or dice.

The quick move into gaming was propelled when the Department of Interior last week placed 2.4 acres into trust, essentially designating it Coquille tribal land around the former bowling alley that contains Roxy’s Bar & Grill.

Tribes opposing the trust designation — the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians in Oregon and the Karuk Tribe and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation in Northern California — have refiled a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. As of Tuesday, there was no ruling on the restraining order.

Michael Rondeau, chief executive officer of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, stated in an email response, “If this casino was legitimate, it wouldn’t have been approved by the Biden Administration in the dark of night — and they wouldn’t have started operating illegally in the dark of night.”

Rondeau said Medford deserves better.

“We will continue to advocate for what is right and just and upholds the law,” he said.

The Cow Creek tribe estimates Seven Feathers could see a 25% reduction in revenue if the Medford casino is built.

The Cow Creek and the other two tribes jointly filed a lawsuit over the casino in December, which has been refiled in federal court as an amended complaint and includes a request for an injunction, online court records show.

Named in the lawsuit are the Interior Department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and members of the Biden administration, including Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. The tribes say the casino project should not be approved due to lack of consulting with the tribes and an invalid final environmental impact study.

U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta denied the initial motion for the injunction Jan. 2, according to online court records.

Doering said the machines were ready for the Interior Department’s potential decision, but were not turned on until after DOI made its decision.

“We weren’t going to do anything until everything is signed and sealed,” he said.

He said the tribe wanted to provide some gaming activity on the tribal land while it prepares drawings and additional planning to build the casino, called The Cedars at Bear Creek.

He said staff have been borrowed from other departments to get the gaming area operational. Ultimately, the casino could have 650 gaming machines, according to previous proposals. The Coquille expect to hire additional staff once the casino is built.

Judy Farm, chief executive officer of Tribal One, which is owned by the Coquille tribe, stated in an email, “Bringing the property into trust finally allows us to start this project. In the coming weeks, we will begin the design process and, once that is in place, we will be better able to show the community what this new facility will look like. Right now, we are just excited that the law was upheld and that we soon will be creating jobs to build and later operate a new entertainment venue in South Medford.”

Doering said that even though the project will be built on tribal lands, which are generally exempt from local laws, the Coquille will still seek review by Medford planning.

“We’ve been working with the city all along,” he said. He said he looks forward to the casino helping redevelop and improve the southern end of Medford.

Medford City Council, which initially took a stance against the casino, has since softened its position. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., blasted the Interior Department decision over the weekend as a “casino arms race” and “reckless choice by D.C. bureaucrats (that) catapults Oregon into an uncontrolled escalation of gambling with no end in sight.”

This story has been updated with additional comment.