Posted on: January 6, 2023, 10:36h.
Final up to date on: January 6, 2023, 11:01h.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida broke floor Thursday on the brand new Seminole On line casino Resort Brighton, west of Lake Okeechobee.
Seminole Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr, fourth from left, at Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony on the Brighton reservation. The unique Brighton property was the second gaming facility of what’s now a multibillion-dollar on line casino empire. (Seminole Tribe of Florida)
The venture will change the present Seminole On line casino Brighton, which has been working three miles to the south of the brand new growth since 1980. The tribe stated in a information launch it expects to finish the venture in late 2024.
The brand new on line casino will home 38,000 sq. toes of gaming flooring with 623 slot machines and 18 tables for blackjack and baccarat, in addition to a number of eating places and eateries.
Financial Increase
In contrast to the present on line casino, the brand new property will embody a lodge – the primary on the Brighton reservation – with 100 visitor rooms. The lodge will function a health middle, a 1,500 square-ft pool with a 12,500 square-ft pool deck, and an eight-lane bowling alley.
There may even be a 900-seat indoor occasion area, plus an outside stage for live shows and comedy exhibits that can accommodate an viewers of three,000.
Seminole Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr., stated in an announcement that the groundbreaking represented a “main financial step ahead for the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the complete Lake Okeechobee area.”
The Seminoles consider the brand new property will enhance the variety of vacationers to the realm.
Tribal Gaming Pioneer
In 1979, the Seminoles have been the primary Native American tribe to open a high-stakes bingo corridor on their reservation, the Seminole Basic. Regardless of attracting warmth from the native Sheriff’s Workplace, it was successful.
The Brighton facility adopted a yr later when bingo tables have been added to a purple barn that additionally housed a ironmongery store and sweetness parlor.
Through the years, the 50-ft-by-35-ft Brighton property, as soon as manned by eight individuals, was enlarged and renovated. Its present dimension of 27,000 sq. toes is smaller than the gaming flooring alone of the brand new growth.
Paving the Means
The Seminoles finally received their battle with legislation enforcement. In 1981, a federal court docket agreed that the state couldn’t implement its bingo legal guidelines on Seminole sovereign land.
This prompted tribes elsewhere to comply with the Seminoles’ instance, notably in California. In 1987, the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians received a landmark case in opposition to the State of California within the Supreme Courtroom.
SCOTUS cited the Seminole ruling when it successfully overturned current legal guidelines that restricted playing on Native American reservations.
A yr later, Congress codified the ruling within the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and the tribal on line casino market was born.
Since then, the tribe’s on line casino operations have change into among the many most profitable on the earth. It owns six on line casino resorts in Florida beneath the Arduous Rock model, which it acquired in 2007, in addition to casinos in Atlantic Metropolis, Biloxi, Vancouver, and elsewhere. Most not too long ago, the tribe acquired the world-famous Mirage on the Las Vegas Strip.
