Thursday’s celebration came less than two years after the Tribes announced plans for the expansion in November 2023 as a way to mark the casino’s 20th anniversary. Construction began in January 2024. Tulalip Tribes did not release the cost of the expansion.

The new space holds 400 slot machines, bringing the casino’s total to more than 2,600, a press release said. The expansion includes a full service bar, with an outdoor covered and heated patio.

Drummers and singers performed, tribal leaders spoke to the crowd cutting the ribbon and opened the doors for about 50 invited members of the public. The expansion officially opened to the public later Thursday.

“It’s such a beautiful day that we are here together,” said Tulalip Tribes’ Chair Teri Gobin. “I’m so excited about this event. We’ve been working on this for a long time.”

Inside, art and design highlight the Tulalip Tribes’ culture and traditions. A ceiling fixture represents water currents, ripples, piers, nets and fish.

Tribal leaders will include the “way-finding” feature, along with the expansion’s other design elements, throughout the rest of the casino after renovations are complete in late 2026. The casino and restaurants will remain open during construction.

“It touches your heart; how beautiful the designs,” Gobin said during an interview Thursday. “That it can be shared for future generations. Our casino out there was beautiful and gorgeous, but it was time for an upgrade too.”

The Tulalip Casino opened on June 5, 2003, and cost $78 million, replacing a smaller casino the Tribes later renamed the Quil Ceda Creek Casino. The Tribes opened a 12-story hotel there on Aug. 15, 2008. After construction, the casino was renamed the Tulalip Resort Casino.

Tulalip is one of the top four employers in Snohomish County, according to Gobin, employing 3,000 people. The Cedar Village businesses next to the casino employ another 4,500. Gobin said the resort casino has been “very important” to the community and to the Tulalip Tribes people providing education, health care and funding for the Tribes’ government.

Glen Gobin, chair of the Tulalip Tribal Council’s Business Committee, said the casino has helped to improve the Tribes’ standard of living.