The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has taken another step on the road to building a casino in Massachusetts by filing a petition with the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to put their land in trust. The petition filed at the BIA’s eastern offices in Nashville, Tennessee by tribal council chairman Shawn Hendricks would place more than 500 acres of land in Middleboro and 140 acres in Mashpee into a trust.

The federal government will inform the state and local governments of the petition and allow a public comment period. The tribe wants to build a US$1 billion resort casino on the Middleboro land. Putting the land in trust makes it tax exempt and subject to federal laws. It should take about 18 months before the petition is approved.

The proposed casino by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Middleboro, could wind up being just the first instalment of a much larger construction project. The tribe has said repeatedly it wants to replicate Mohegan Sun, which has been held up as a ‘model.’ However, critics of the project say that the Wampanoag’s US$1 billion proposal falls far short of that goal.

According to Clyde Barrow, a gambling industry expert and professor at the University of Massachusetts, the proposed Middleboro casino would have to triple in size before it rivalled, let alone overtook, the Connecticut gambling resort. With over US$3 billion in terms of investment in real estate and hard costs, the Mohegan Sun is the product of a steady series of expansions over the last decade.

Scott Ferson, a spokesman for the tribe, said there are no plans to expand beyond the proposal that has been laid out, which includes a 1,500-room hotel, shops and restaurants, plus 150,000 square feet of gambling space, and a golf course. Those key points match up roughly with the core of Mohegan’s casino. (E-08.31.07)

© Copyright 2007 CasinoCompendium



>>> return to archives
>>> return to frontpage