A half-decade in the making, the new Snoqualmie Casino opens the door to potential economic prosperity for Snoqualmie Tribe members and big changes in the Valley.
Tribal Administrator Matt Mattson described the momentous opening Thursday, Nov. 6, as “poetic justice” for a tribe that has spent decades seeking its identity.
Filling the house
Gearing up for the big night Thursday, workers put the final polish on the interior as special guests toured the facility.
The red carpet was out for a VIP party and the general public was welcome at 10 p.m.
“We’re prepared to fill the house,” Casino Vice President of Marketing Matt Gallagher said. “We’re preparing to have a good time.”
About 30,000 visitors flocked to the venue in its first six hours of operation, spokeswoman Gina Brodie said.
Visitors needed to plan ahead to make the evening prime times on opening weekend. Otherwise, Gallagher said there should be plenty of parking and table space for mid-week visitors.
With all the sights to see at the casino, Gallagher said the can’t-miss spot was the Club SNO lounge during the day.
“It has spectacular views, absolutely unparalleled in the Valley,” he said. On the weekends, it becomes the Valley’s only nightclub, he said.
The casino’s dining and entertainment venues, which also include the circular, plasma-screen equipped MIST lounge, a 11,000-square-foot events center and ballroom, five restaurants and a high-end cigar bar, have been well received by visitors.
A dozen new slot machines offer the chance to win a top prize of $1 million in each $3 bet.
“This is the first million-dollar jackpot in the state,” Gallagher said.
“You’re going to see a lot of innovation around here,” he added, pointing out features such as moon logos on every slot machine. “It’s the little touches that will really separate this property.”
With more than 1,300 employees, Gallagher said there’s “no doubt” that the casino will benefit the area. Hiring continues for casino staff, he added.
‘Poetic justice’
The showy debut of the $375 million casino comes at a time of historic economic uncertainty, but Mattson is optimistic about its prospects in “a unique market.”
“We secured our investment by building this property, instead of building a tent, or instead of building slots in a box, because of where we are, because of the type of socioeconomic status you have to have to live in Issaquah or Snoqualmie Ridge or Bellevue,” he said.
The Tribe will spend years paying off investors, but Mattson expects to see some dividends for the Tribe’s 600 members within a year of opening.
“We hope that the profits from the Snoqualmie Casino will elevate the standard of living for Snoquamie Tribal members and transform the Tribe, so that members that are born into this Tribe are born into a life of hope and prosperity as opposed to despair and poverty,” he said.
The Tribe will not make any per-capita payments initially, but will invest in social programs like health care, an educational endowment, and environmental rehabilitation.
Though the “People of the Moon” have inhabited the region for hundreds of years, and signed on to the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliot, the Snoqualmie Tribe lost its federal recognition in 1953 because it did not have reservation lands. After decades of petitioning, the Tribe was again officially acknowledged in 1999. Shortly after that recognition, members began actively working toward building the casino.
Mattson said the Tribe spent “a significant amount of time” looking at property in the Tribe’s aboriginal territory, which extends to the eastern boundary of Lake Washington.
Leaders eventually agreed on the area off Exit 27 in Snoqualmie, and in 2001 filed an application to put the land into trust as an initial reservation. Construction on the casino began less than two years ago.
“This was in some ways a compromise for the Tribe to settle on this location,” Mattson said. However, he is glad to see the Snoqualmie Casino in the Valley.
“Many people now have their livelihood tied to the Tribe, and in some ways I think there is a poetic justice to that: The Tribe is restoring its position of prominence in this Valley that’s named after them,” he said.
