After Wednesday’s soft opening and a ribbon-cutting ceremony the following day, on Saturday morning the new Tiverton Casino Hotel opened less than a mile from the Massachusetts border near Fall River.
According to the Providence Journal, hundreds lined the sidewalk in the front of the facility as they waited to enter the new “convenience” casino, which officially opened to the public at 10am on Saturday.
Amenities and expectations:?
The property which is situated on 21 acres includes an 84-room hotel, food, beverage, and entertainment outlets, fitness center, meeting space and a 38,000 square foot casino with 32 gaming tables and some 1,000 slot machines.
Patti Doyle, a spokeswoman for Rhode Island-based Twin River Management Group, which in addition to the Tiverton casino, owns and operates the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, RI,?Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Biloxi, MS and Arapahoe Park in Aurora, CO, said…
“I loved that moment when we opened the doors, and the staff was all here, from the president of the company on down.?There was obviously a certain sense of excitement and anticipation, and it’s nice that the day is finally here.”
Doyle explained that the company had no “set projections or expectations” for opening day. “We just want to make sure that each and every guest who walks through these doors has a positive experience. The crew here, it’s all-hands-on-deck ready to receive guests all day and all night long,” she said.
Approvals process:
Twin River Management had its plan for the new Tiverton Casino Hotel approved via a statewide referendum in November 2016, and some five months later the Tiverton Town Council unanimously approved zoning regulations for its construction.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Twin River Worldwide Holdings, Inc., the company broke ground on the $140 million project a little over a year ago, having transferred the gaming license from the Newport Grand Casino?(pictured left) to the new venue in Tiverton.
Twin River Management Group announced it would be closing the slots casino [Newport Grand Casino] on August 7.
While an October 1 target date for the casino opening was given previously, at the end of May the management company’s chairman, John E. Taylor Jr., reportedly announced that due to unexpected progress made by construction crews during the winter months, the Tiverton casino would open sooner than expected.
Projected tax revenue:
The Newport County town of Tiverton believes that it will see a minimum of $3 million collected annually in gambling revenue and an additional $1 million in taxes.