Proposed Indian Casino Gets Voter Approval South of Boston

An aerial shot of a high school football field in a rural town in New England on Saturday may have appeared to some to have been a photo of some sort of music festival. Large tents bulged at the seems with people who could not come close to fitting underneath. Lawn chairs filled the lawn and excitement was in the air. But this was no Lollapalooza, this was a town meeting before a vote on a new resort casino in the town south of Boston.

The town voted in 2-1 favor of a Mashpee Wampanoag $1 billion casino to be built in the small rural town of Middleborough, Massachusetts.

After the vote, Town Selectman Wayne Perkins said, "The town just took a giant step forward to preserve and enhance the town for its residents and their children."

Once the casino is built and running it will bring an estimated $11 million per year to the town, $7 million of which is guaranteed and would represent 11% of the town's annual budget. The town will also receive $250 million initially in infrastructure improvements, which means roads and surrounding buildings could afford to be fixed.

The Wampanoag Indian Tribe has ancestral grounds in Middleborough that has gone unused for years. As a result of the new casino being built the Tribe will move back to the land they own.

"The tribe's coming back home and I can't say how happy we are," said Glen Marshall, Wampanoag Tribal Chairman.

The Town Meeting on Saturday hosted more than 4,000 people and was one of the biggest in the state's history. The vote to approve the new Indian casino is the first step in a process before the town actually gets to gamble in the casino, which as proposed allows full fledged gambling games.

The casino still has to get approval from the governor and also must get federal approval. Those two steps are expected to go smoothly, though it will take time.

July 30, 2007
Posted By Susan Torres
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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