Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe announces opening of casino in 2017

Tuesday, March 15, 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 of Massachusetts plans to open its long-awaited casino by the summer of 2017.

Construction on the First Light Resort and Casino in the city of Taunton will begin next month. If the tribe's timetable holds, it will be the first full-scale gaming facility in the state, beating commercial projects elsewhere by more than a year.

“This project will not only help sustain our tribe on the land our ancestors have lived on for the past 12,000 years, it will also help revitalize the regional economy and provide up to $2 billion dollars in revenues for the commonwealth,” Chairman Cedric Cromwell said in a press release.

Cromwell unveiled final design plans for the facility during a press conference on Monday. At full build out, the casino will feature 3,000 slot machines, 150 table games, 40 poker tables, three hotels with 300 rooms, meeting and function space, restaurants, a food court, a cafe, nine retail stores, an indoor pool, a spa and a water park.

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

Construction will generate 1,000 jobs, Mayor Thomas Hoye said. The facility itself will employ 2,600 people once the entire project is complete.

“First Light Resort & Casino will help put Taunton back on the map as a magnificent city to visit, and that’s something we can all get behind,” Hoye said in the press release.

The first phase that will open in 2017 includes the casino, restaurants, entertainment and retail offerings, according to news reports. The additional amenities would open during the following year.

The announcement comes as the Massachusetts Gaming Commission hosts a public meeting on the tribe's reservation in Mashpee on Tuesday afternoon. The meeting will be webcast starting at 1pm Eastern.

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

The commission already approved commercial casino licenses for Wynn Resorts, a company owned by billionaire Steve Wynn, and MGM Resorts International. But the Wynn casino in Everett, near Boston, has been put on hold due to litigation.

The MGM casino in Springfield, in the western part of the state, isn't due to open until the fall of 2018. The company is trying to stop the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe from building a new casino in neighboring Connecticut with two lawsuits.

The commission could also approve a casino in the same region as the Mashpee Wampaoag Tribe but hasn't made a determination either way. The tribe has warned the commission that a decision could lead to litigation and economic instability.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is facing litigation for approving the tribe's land-into-trust application. The tribe itself, however, has not been sued and likely cannot be stopped from starting work on the casino because the land in Taunton is already in trust and has already been declared a reservation.