Openings & Closings

Navajo Nation celebrates new gaming facility in New Mexico

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Navajo Nation celebrated the opening of the Northern Edge Navajo Casino on Monday.

The $70 million facility is the tribe's third and is the largest so far. The 86,000-square-foot casino features 750 slot machines, six poker tables, 10 table games, a food court, a gift shop, a restaurant and a player's club.

"There's a change on the Navajo Nation," President Ben Shelly said during a private ceremony on Sunday, The Farmington Daily Times reported "It's a growing economy. It's job creation."

The casino employs 374 people, 89 percent of whom are Navajo, the paper reported. The annual payroll, including wages and benefits, is $12 million.

The tribe's two other gaming facilities are in New Mexico. A fourth, slated to the largest, is under construction near Flagstaff, Arizona.

Get the Story:
New Northern Edge casino opens to a crowd (The Farmington Daily Times 1/17)
Concerns verified at intersection near new casino (The Farmington Daily Times 1/17)
Navajos Celebrate Opening of Biggest, Newest Casino (The Albuquerque Journal 1/16)