The Snoqualmie Casino in Washington is undergoing a $400m expansion after a ceremonial groundbreaking took place last week. The plans are to add a new hotel, event center and additional gaming space to the tribal casino.
The expansion will encompass 1.2 million square feet which will be on the Snoqualmie tribe’s reservation. The project is expected to take two years to fully construct and will include a 2,000-seat event center, a 210-room luxury hotel and 11,000 square feet of expanded gaming space at the casino.
Other benefits of the expansion will add a full-service spa, fitness center, indoor pool, a new on-site parking structure and two new restaurants. The Snoqualmie tribe estimates the project will create 500 new jobs for locals.
Cumming Group, a construction consultancy, and Skanska, a Seattle-based general contractor, will be heading the project. It was Skanska who built the original Snoqualmie Casino in 2008.
Cumming Group Senior Project Manager Scott Hebert believes that the expansion will provide an uplifting boost to the local community through job creation and provide much-needed hotel, concert and meeting spaces. Herbert commented, “We could not be more excited to bring this caliber of resort experience to Snoqualmie.”
The expansion comes about a month after the Snoqualmie City Council approved an agreement between the city and the tribe. After negotiations, the tribe agreed to pay the city $6.6m in exchange for a sewer service needed for the construction.
Negotiations were crucial for this process. As Snoqualmie Councilmember James Mayhew commented: “There were a lot of trust issues, both with the tribe trusting the city and with the city trusting the tribe. That’s why it took two years to negotiate this.”
Following the official groundbreaking kick-off, phase one of construction has now started. This initial phase will focus on the casino’s valet entrance and parking facilities.
