The nearly 300-member Sauk Suiattle Indian Tribe will open its long-awaited casino this summer in Darrington, Washington, about 80 miles northwest of Seattle.

A September 1, 2018 grand opening is scheduled for the Last Chance Casino and Bingo at 5318 Chief Brown Lane that will offer about 200 slot machines, a café and a small bar, and a 70-person capacity bingo hall which will alternately serve as a live entertainment venue, the Everett Herald reports.

About a week prior to the grand opening, a celebration will reportedly be held for tribal members.

Casino manager, Nino Maltos, reportedly communicated to the news agency that the Sauk Suiattle Indian Tribe has been “looking to open up a facility for a long time.”

“We’ve had a state (agreement) for years. There were a few attempts to try to open, but they weren’t successful,” said Maltos.

The facility which is under construction along Highway 530 approximately six miles past Darrington in Snohomish County, is being developed thanks to a recent partnership between the Sauk Suiattle Indian Tribe and the Willapa Bay Enterprise Corporation. The latter is the economic development arm of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe, which owns and operates the 14,000 square foot Shoalwater Bay Casino on Willapa Bay located on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state. The team that operates the former will reportedly train the staff for the coming casino.

“It’s sovereign nation helping sovereign nation,” said Maltos. “They stepped up and said, ‘Hey, we’ll not only come in and wow your casino and make it look like a casino, but we’ll bring our whole management team in and make sure you’re all trained and turn-key by your opening date,’ ” as reported by the news outlet.

A recent Shoalwater Bay Casino news release calls the project “a landmark display of tribe-to-tribe assistance.”

Approximately 35 to 40 casino staff will reportedly be hired as job fairs are planned for this summer.

Maltos communicated his excitement regarding the long-awaited facility, which he says will create job opportunities for both the tribe and the town of Darrington, and made note of the possibility of expansion in the future.

“We have a huge number of travelers that go to the east side (on Highway 20), and then we have the bikers who like to do the Mountain Loop ride, and then we have a lot of people who just want to do this drive,” said Maltos. “Our traffic flow is pretty good up here in spring and summer and fall.”

The new facility will reportedly be situated at the site of Sauk-Suiattle headquarters.