e Island has voted for a new casino to be built in Tiverton, near the border with Massachusetts. The Rhode Island General Assembly decided on holding the November ballot back in March, and now the vote shows that Rhode Island citizens are largely in favour of the upcoming casino.

The new $75m enterprise is predicted to boost the town’s public resources and benefit the economy. Casino operator Twin River will now transfer its Newport Grand licence to Tiverton. The new Tiverton casino will compete with the casinos of its neighbouring state, Massachusetts, including the planned MGM Resorts casino in Springfield. John Taylor, Twin River chairman predicted that the new casino will generate upwards of 550 permanent jobs for the local people.

Tiverton, a town of under 16,000 people, will benefit from new the casino by $3m-$4m annually, and Twin River also expects to gain greater revenue from this move: “Today Twin River generates about $27 million in revenue to the state of Rhode Island,” Taylor says, “With this proposal it would generate $50 million, but also as much as $70 million depending on competition.”