In Washington, the Tulalip Tribes and Quil Ceda Creek Casino celebrated the start of construction on the new $140 million Quil Ceda Creek Casino Hotel with a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, local news agencies report.
The ceremony for the multi-million replacement for the existing Quil Ceda Creek Casino took place at the Tulalip Reservation in Snohomish County where officials were the design of the new casino and hotel were revealed by the Tulalip Tribes.
The Daily Herald reports that Teri Gobin, vice chairwoman for the tribes, said, “What an honor it is to take a part in this journey for the tribes.”
“It’s so exciting we’re finally doing this groundbreaking and knowing what it will mean for the tribes and community, bringing jobs and helping with economic development,” Gobin said.
The new Quil Ceda Creek Casino Hotel will reportedly be built on 16 acres of ancestral Tulalip Tribal land located directly south of the existing Quil Ceda Creek and is expected to open for business in spring 2019. The decision to add a 150-room hotel to the project was made by the tribe over the last few months, according to the report.
Tulalip Resort Casino President Ken Kettler said, “We’re working on the designs of the hotel rooms as we speak today.”
The 110,000-square-foot casino will feature 1,500 slot machines, an increase of 500 from the existing casino’s 1,000, more table games and a 1,200-stall parking garage with ample parking areas to accommodate 700 additional vehicles.
Quil Ceda Creek Vice President Teresa Jira said that another feature of the new casino is a state-of-the-art smoke elimination system. Jira said that was their number one complaint at the existing property. “So we’re definitely taking care of that,” said Jira.
Other amenities include new dining and bar options with specialty desert and coffee shops. The hotel will reportedly feature meeting rooms, a VIP business lounge, pool, spa and a catering kitchen.
Originally called, Tulalip Casino, the Quil Ceda Creek Casino is located at 6410 33rd Ave NE, Tulalip and opened 25 years ago. It is the smaller of the tribe’s two casinos and will be torn down once the new casino is completed. The larger of the two casinos, the Tulalip Resort Casino was built in 2004 and is located just three miles north of the Quil Ceda Creek Casino. And while the majority of the Quil Ceda Creek Casino’s customer base is of the local variety; many of the Tulalip Resort Casino’s customers are regional and come from the West, like Vancouver, B.C. and Seattle.
