Feds Approve Upper Skagit Indian Casino

An agreement between the Upper Skagit Indian tribe and Harrah’s Casinos to build a $23 million casino at Bow Hill off Interstate 5 has won federal approval.

The National Indian Gaming Commission approved the contract this week. Harrah’s will manage the tribally owned entertainment complex.

“It’s been a long, complex process and the tribe’s extremely pleased that we have gotten this far,” Doreen Maloney, the tribe’s acting general manager, said Friday. “However, we know that a good portion of the work is still ahead.”

The 64,000-square-foot building will feature 31 gaming tables such as blackjack, craps and roulette. It also will include an 800-seat bingo parlor, a keno lounge, a sports bar, a snack bar, a buffet restaurant and a fine-dining restaurant.

The tribe plans to break ground next month and open the casino by late fall.

The casino will be a source of revenue for tribal programs, Upper Skagit leaders say. It also will provide jobs for many of the tribe’s 600 members, about 40 percent of whom are unemployed.