Twin River Casino gained approval from the Tiverton Planning Board for its long-rumored casino development. If construction goes well, the casino and hotel is expected to open in July 2018.
The planning board voted 6-1 to approve the Tiverton casino, with two abstentions. The 7,500 square foot gaming facility will be located at the intersection of Stafford Road and William S. Canning Boulevard.
Twin River’s Casinos
Twin River Management Group owns Rhode Island’s two other casinos, Newport Grand and Twin River Lincoln. The gaming company also owns Arapahoe Park in Colorado, as well as Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Final approval on the casino has been years in coming. Local voters have approved the measure by a narrow margin on the November 2016 ballot, 4,305 votes to 3,939 votes. Earlier votes had not gone the way Rhode Island’s leaders had wanted, so the 366-margin told local political and business leaders they had to push the project despite significant local opposition. The approval of the Tiverton Planning Board was by no means a foregone conclusion.
John Taylor: “A Convenience Casino”
When the project was first proposed, John Taylor of Twin River Management described the project as a “convenience casino that fits in with the local community”. Twin River Tiverton is located on the border with Massachusetts, so it is designed to keep Rhode Island gamblers inside the state, while luring a few Massachusetts gamblers to try the facility across the border.
Twin River Tiverton Casino will hold 1,200 slot machines and around 30 to 40 gaming tables, including a poker room, when completed.
Gaming analysts estimate that Rhode Island’s casino industry will take a $100 million-a-year hit when several projects in Massachusetts open. While the opening of a 1,250-machine slots parlor at Plainridge Park in Plainville, Massachusetts has had an effect, it is the Wynn Boston Harbor which is most likely to cause the biggest financial impact. Boston residents will have no reason to visit Rhode Island casinos.
Rhode Island’s Slot Machine Revenues
It is an important matter to the Rhode Island government, because slot machine revenues are the third-largest source of income for the State of Rhode Island. The Department of Revenue’s Office of Revenue Analysis estimates that about $375 million-a-year comes from slots revenue, with about two-thirds coming from Twin River Lincoln Casino.
When the state legislature first approved a casino referendum for Tiverton, Gov. Gina Raimondo called it “beneficial for the state”.
House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello seconded Raimondo’s sentiments, adding, “I have always been a supporter of Twin River and I applaud them for their creativity and their willingness to invest in our state.”
Twin River Tiverton to Create 500-600 Jobs
Twin River Tiverton Casino is expected to create 500 to 600 jobs. The average full-time salary of those workers will be $56,000, plus benefits. In addition, 300 temporary construction jobs will be created by the casino development.
When completed, the casino is expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year in revenues. The Rhode Island Treasury’s cut of the action is expected to be $50 million.
