The Lumbee Tribe has purchased land along Interstate 95 in Robeson County where it's considering building the state's first casino east of Charlotte.
Around the same time Congress was voting last month to grant federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe, the American Indian group bought about 240 acres just south of Lumberton, property records show.
The site is undeveloped farmland where Chicken Road crosses I-95 near the tiny towns of McDonald and Raynham. County records show the property was sold for $6 million. Part of it directly fronts the interstate near the interchange with Interstate 74.
Lumbee Chairman John Lowery, who's also a state legislator, says tribal members will vote on whether to build a resort and casino. "What form of economic development we take early on in this new era, whether gaming is part of our future or not, will be determined by the will of the Lumbee people," he said in a video message last week.
Lowery says a casino plan would go well beyond slot machines and could include "a shopping outlet and additional amenities, such as a golf course, a Top Golf-style facility, a water park or similar attractions." If a referendum on gambling is rejected, the property will become a business and industrial park instead.
"Existing laws and policies create powerful incentives for corporations to invest in our community," Lowery said. "Either of these options can lead to thousands of jobs and be an economic boon, not just for our tribal territory, but for this entire region of the state."
Currently the state's only casinos are in Cherokee, Murphy, and Kings Mountain, all owned by federally recognized American Indian tribes. Until the recent federal recognition, the Lumbee Tribe was only formally recognized by state government. American Indian groups without federal recognition aren't legally able to operate casinos in North Carolina.
Lowery says the newly purchased land — along with other Lumbee properties like the tribe's headquarters and cultural center in Pembroke — will soon be placed into a federal land trust. That prevents the land from being taken through eminent domain and provides "critical protections that safeguard our long-term interests."
"I've seen the economic powerhouse that the Eastern Band (of Cherokee Indians) has become in the western part of the state, and the transformative growth of our brothers and sisters, the Catawba, over the last few years in the Metrolina part of our state," Lowery said.
