- Seminole Gaming broke ground on the new Seminole Brighton Casino project last Thursday.
- The new complex will replace the existing casino which is located 3 miles away from it.
- It will have a 100-room hotel which will become the first hotel to be built in the Brighton Reservation.
Seminole Gaming and the Seminole Tribe of Florida broke ground last week at the site of the new Seminole Brighton Casino which will replace the existing casino with the same name. The new casino is expected to be completed in 2024.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida and Seminole Gaming have broken ground at the site of the future Seminole Casino Hotel Brighton, which is projected to open in late 2024.https://t.co/1i6KyaQw39
— CasinoBeats (@casinobeatsnews) January 6, 2023
Per Marcellus Osceola Jr., Seminole Tribe Chairman:
The new Seminole Brighton Casino will have 38,000 square feet of casino space, 623 slot machines, and 18 tables for blackjack, baccarat, and other house-banked card games. Included in that total are 101 slot machines which will be housed under a smoke-free room and 42 slot machines plus 4 table games placed in a high-limit gaming area.
First Hotel in the Brighton Reservation
The hotel at the new Seminole Brighton Casino complex will be the first hotel at the Brighton Reservation. The casino will be the 4th Seminole gaming property with a hotel after Seminole Casino Hotel Immokalee, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood.
The hotel will have 100 rooms spread across four stories totaling 72,000 square feet. A pool and amenity deck will be built adjacent to the hotel while an outdoor stage will be the property’s second entertainment venue and can accommodate as many as 3,000 guests for a concert, comedy show, or another performance.
Dining options in the new casino include a 124-seat restaurant that will be open 24/7, a 60-seat steak house, and a fast-service and carry-out cafe that will offer a combination of items from a coffee bar and pizza parlor. The property will also have an indoor events space with a snack bar that can accommodate 400 guests in a banquet setting or 900 guests when set up as a performance hall.
A 75-Acre Project
The new complex will be built on 75-acre land which includes a 10-acre lake, and a parking area that can accommodate 1,000 cars. Located at 15005 Reservation Road, it is about three miles south of the existing Seminole Brighton Casino property.
Currently, the Seminole Brighton Casino is a key destination for dining and entertainment in the Brighton Reservation, where more than 500 members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida reside. Aside from local tourists, the existing casino also attracts guests from nearby Okeechobee and Highlands Counties, and residential areas around Lake Okeechobee.
Tourists who visit the region for outdoor activities like fishing, are also drawn to and have become frequent visitors of the casino. The new casino is expected to increase the number of tourists visiting the region. It is also projected to bring in new economic activity that will perk up the area’s economic figures.
Current Seminole Brighton Casino
The current Seminole Brighton Casino is a 27,000-square-foot casino that has over 400 slot machines and 8 live table games, including Blackjack and Three-Card Poker. It also features high-stakes bingo action and Josiah, a full-service restaurant and lounge. The casino also has a non-smoking slot machine area and an ultra-modern air-conditioning system.
It is one of the largest employers in Glades County with 210 employees. The casino opened in 1980 as one of the Seminole Tribe’s first gaming properties. It is located at 17735 Reservation Road in Okeechobee, Florida just three miles from the Brighton RV Resort on the Seminole Brighton Reservation near Lake Okeechobee.
Seminole Brighton Casino is owned by Seminole Gaming which operates six Florida casinos for the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Its roster of casinos includes the Seminole Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos in Tampa and Hollywood, Florida. The Seminole Tribe was the first Native American Tribe to open a high-stakes bingo hall and casino which debuted in 1979 and became the precursor of the Indian Gaming movement.
