MILWAUKEE -- Mayor Tom Barrett says he is looking into the possibility of having the Potawatomi tribe's Indian casino move to the city's downtown area from the Menomonee Valley.

Although former Mayor John Norquist vehemently opposed such a move, saying it would hurt other entertainment venues and restaurants, Barrett said Wednesday the downtown area would in many ways be a better site for the facility.

"I don't think it would be a bad thing," he said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, adding that he planned to visit Thursday in Washington with George Skibine, an acting deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, in an effort to find out what obstacles such a shift would entail.

The tribe pays both the city and Milwaukee County 1.5 percent of annual casino revenue under the current agreement, which came to about $3.9 million to each unit of government last year.

AP

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