Mashpee is reviving troubled First Light casino project
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts said it is "ready to move forward with temporary economic development projects." The Tribe believes it will provide a "financially sound path" for First Light Casino to realize its derailment.
In a letter to the Taunton, Mass., City Council obtained by The Taunton Journal, Jim Ellenzo, chief financial officer of the Tribal Gaming Authority, said the transition project will create hundreds of jobs. He added that these "will only grow in the future during the transition from the initial interim project to the previously planned [casino] project".
While Ellenzo did not elaborate on the nature of the "temporary project," it likely refers to a temporary casino sometimes built to shore up finances, build a customer base and train employees while a large casino resort is built.
It's unclear whether the vision for a permanent casino remains the same as the original multi-billion dollar project.
Pioneering
First Light originally broke ground in 2016, when the Obama administration took over 321 acres in Taunton and Mashpee as a sovereign tribal reservation. This is a necessary prerequisite for the tribe to organize gambling under the Indian Gaming Control Act.
The original project was developed in partnership with Malaysian casino giant Genting and cost $1 billion. But a legal challenge brought by a group of Taunton residents and funded by casino tycoon Neil Bloom scuppered the Dawn plan.
U.S. District Judge William Young concluded that because the tribe was recognized after the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934, the federal government made a mistake by placing the land in trust. Although he is descended from the tribe who shared bread with the Pilgrims on the first Thanksgiving, the Mashpee was not recognized until 2007.
The Trump administration agreed with the ruling and began the process of decommissioning the Mashpee Reservation, stripping the tribe of its sovereignty and blocking the casino project from moving forward.
First light, second chance
In June 2020, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman overturned the 2016 ruling, which he called an "abuse of discretion and unlawful." The Biden administration later identified Mashpee's land.
Meanwhile, Cedric Cromwell, the former chairman of Mashpee who oversaw the original project, was sentenced to three years in prison in November 2022 for accepting bribes related to Dawn.
His successor Brian Wyden declined to comment on whether the tribe would revive the project, instead stressing the need for "healing" after the corruption of Cromwell's government.
In February, a federal judge in Boston rejected an attempt by Taunton residents to refile a lawsuit against the tribe.
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Source: www.casino.org
