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Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe awaits word on rival casino project

Friday, March 18, 2016

Artist's rendering of the First Light Resort and Casino in Taunton, Massachusetts. Image from Steelman Partners / Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe plans to break ground on its long-awaited casino in a matter of weeks as Massachusetts regulators debate whether to approve a rival project.

The First Light Resort and Casino will be built in the city of Taunton. That's less than 20 miles from the location of the proposed commercial facility in Brockton.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission will hold a final hearing on the issue on March 28, State House News Service reported. But a decision might not come until the end of April -- well after the tribe plans to break ground on its casino.

The tribe hasn't set the exact date for the groundbreaking but it's expected in the second week of April. The first phase of the casino would open in the summer of 2017, far ahead of two commercial casinos in other regions of the state.

The New England Casino Race: Tribal and commercial gaming facilities in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island

The tribe has called on the commission to kill the Brockton bid for a number of reasons, including the fact that its developer -- Neil Bluhm, whose net worth was pegged by Forbes at $2.9 billion -- is financing a lawsuit that questions whether the Bureau of Indian Affairs lawfully approved the land-into-trust application for the First Light Resort and Casino.

The tribe is not a defendant and likely cannot be stopped from building the casino because the gaming site has already been placed in trust and has been declared a reservation.

Get the Story:
Gaming Commission director says decision on Brockton casino possible by late April (State House News Service 3/17)
Tribe, Architects, Financers Unveil 15-Story, $1B Resort Casino (Cape News 3/18)

Federal Register Notices:
Proclaiming Certain Lands as Reservation for the Mashpee Wampanoag (January 8, 2016)
Land Acquisitions; Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (September 25, 2015)
Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Fee-to-Trust Transfer of Property and Subsequent Development of a Resort/Hotel and Ancillary Facilities in the City of Taunton, MA and Tribal Government Facilities in the Town of Mashpee, MA by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (September 5, 2014)

Relevant Documents:
Chairman Cedric Cromwell Announcement | Mashpee Wampanoag Trbe Press Release | Bureau of Indian Affairs Press Release | Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn Letter to Chairman Cedric Cromwell | Record of Decision

DOI Solicitor Opinion:
M-37029: The Meaning of "Under Federal Jurisdiction" for Purposes of the Indian Reorganization Act (March 12, 2014)