Sacramento tribal casino breaks ground, to be run by Boyd in H2 2022

Among local officials attending the ceremony on Tuesday were California Assemblymembers, Sacramento County Supervisor, and Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen. Former California Gov. Jerry Brown and Gov. Gavin Newsom offered congratulations via video. Rendering gallery.

The Wilton Rancheria tribe on Tuesday broke ground on their casino-resort project in Elk Grove, Sacramento, California. It also unveiled its logo and name, Sky River Casino, with an opening date set for the second half of 2022.

Boyd Gaming will build and operate the casino on land that is owned by the tribe. Among the casino’s features will be 2,000 slot machines, more than 80 gaming tables, and 12 distinct dining options.

Wilton tribal elder and former chairwoman Mary Tarango led the crowd of several hundred tribal members, local and regional officials in prayer on the Promenade Parkway site near Highway 99. Tarango and other Rancheria and civic leaders at Tuesday’s groundbreaking for the $400 million project hailed the day as not only an economic boon to an Elk Grove seeking to emerge from its reputation as a bedroom community but as another step toward Wilton tribal self-sufficiency.

“Today is a great day for the city and a meaningful step forward for the Wilton Rancheria tribe,” said Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, who said Elk Grove residents told her that “we need more entertainment and dining options and we need more jobs,” The Sacramento Bee reports.

Wilton Rancheria pledges to invest $186 million in the city and Sacramento County over the next 20 years to support public safety and education, roads and other services. The project is expected to employ some 1,500 skilled workers over the length of construction and another 2,000 jobs once the resort is built.

The groundbreaking on Elk Grove’s unfinished shopping mall near Kammerer Road and State Route 99 came three months after Boyd Gaming Corp. purchased the 64-acre site for an undisclosed amount. An undisclosed third party is providing full financing for the $400 million project off of Grant Line Road, Boyd Gaming officials said. 

Boyd officials at the time of the December sale said the project would include a hotel, spa, restaurants and a convention center — which would be one of the largest in the capital region. At the site, Boyd Gaming President Keith Smith pledged the new resort “will become one of the most popular, profitable casinos in the state,” providing “jobs not only for the tribe but for the entire Elk Grove community.”

For the tribe, revenue will help to improve housing, health care and educational opportunities, leaders said, preserving a tribal community of more than 800 members. The Wilton Rancheria had struggled for decades after its federal designation was stripped nearly 60 years ago only to have it restored in 2009. Legal battles followed to gain a gaming compact, purchase land and open the way for the casino project.

Former California Gov. Jerry Brown and Gov. Gavin Newsom offered congratulations via video. Brown signed the gaming compact in 2017 giving the go-ahead to build what will become Sky River. 

Tuesday’s latest step toward that milestone, “marks a new beginning, a new chapter here in Elk Grove,” said state Assemblyman James Ramos, D-Highland, the first California Native American elected to the Assembly and a former leader of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

Sky River Casino Elk Grove Wilton Rancheria