Published October 2002

Skagit home
to two tribal casinos

Snohomish County Business Journal File Photo/JOHN WOLCOTT The Skagit Valley Casino Resort north of Burlington includes a 103-room hotel; an indoor pool, sauna, spa and exercise room; a 450-seat theater and a variety of restaurants to go along with its gaming center.

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

With two American Indian tribal casinos in Skagit County — the Skagit Valley Casino Resort north of Burlington and the Northern Lights Casino near Anacortes — gaming has become a popular attraction to this land of tulip fields, farming, tourist towns and retail malls.

The largest of the casinos, the $28 million, Las Vegas-style Skagit Valley Casino Resort, has become a regional recreation and gaming center, featuring one of the largest casinos in Washington state: an $11 million, 103-room hotel; restaurants; an indoor pool, sauna, spa and exercise room; plus a 450-seat theater with a state-of-the-art sound system and lighting.

The Skagit, as the facility is being marketed, also has a business conference center that added another 3,200 square feet of meeting space a year ago, all linked to the theater facility for convention use.

Operated by the Upper Skagit Tribe on land adjacent to I-5 at Bow, halfway between Everett and Bellingham, The Skagit is one of the region’s newest destination resorts.

Because the casino’s décor doesn’t focus on Native American heritage, as most Indian-operated casinos do in the state, The Skagit is “the most authentic Las Vegas-style casino in the Northwest,” General Manager Don Guglielmino said.

“With the hotel and conference rooms, we can target a market we couldn’t focus on before, such as meetings, conventions and tourism,” he said. “A lot of people will come for the casino, then stay overnight before going home. Both Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., are major markets for us — although one of our top markets right now is Everett, Marysville and Snohomish County.”

Although the Swinomish tribe’s Northern Lights Casino on Highway 20, nine miles west of I-5, is smaller than The Skagit, it offers a wide array of gaming options, including slot machines and table games, a Bingo hall with a full-service deli, and comedy and musical entertainment.

There’s also a family-style restaurant and banquet and party facilities for private or corporate events in the 4,300-square-foot Cabaret, with seating up to 300, overhead projection screens and a recessed stage with professional lighting and sound facilities.

One of the significant differences between the two Skagit County casinos is that Northern Lights is set in a Native American heritage environment, with a décor solidly linked to Northwest Indian traditions, history and culture.

More information about the Skagit Valley Casino Resort is available on the resort’s Web site, www.svcasinoresort.com. The Northern Lights Casino’s Web site is at www.swinomishcasino.com.

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