Cowlitz Tribe Plans Opening of $510M Casino with High Hopes

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The Cowlitz Indian Tribe within Southwestern Washington will be finally opening the 510 Million Dollar Casino this coming Monday.  This project has been marked with a legal struggle that has gone on for a year and now that struggle has finally came to an end as the U.S. Supreme Court denied to entertain an appeal from the opponents.

This casino will be one of the largest resort and casinos within the region, With a stadium scale parking lot as well as a huge 368,000 square foot structure that is constructed on rural acreage.  The new Casino and resort is hoping to draw patrons from the Portland area which is only 16 miles south, as well as drawing more patrons from communities that are along the I-5 corridor.

A very critical point within the Cowlitz tribe history was in 1855 when the leaders of the tribe refused to sign a treaty and move the whole tribe into a reservation site that was being proposed.  Over the course of many years the members of this tribe scattered and it took many more years of campaigning in order to persuade the federal Interior Department to grant Tribal legal status in the year 2000.

Opponents of the newest casino began their fight within the court system over five years ago, when they actually challenged the Interior Department’s decision to elect 152 acres of land located just west of La Center as a reservation and that gaming could legally take place.

Concerns about competition played a huge role, the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde operate the Spirit Mountain Casino that is located within Oregon’s Coast Range.  With the building of this new casino that will be located much closer to Portland, Spirit Mountain Casino faces tough competition.