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It’s been a while since visions of crowded casino tables, a five-star hotel and endless buffets danced in the heads of Middleboro residents.

Meanwhile, in nearby Taunton, casino plans by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe – which had courted Middleboro in 2007 – are moving forward.

At a recent meeting in Taunton, architectural plans were rolled out. Presenters showed off renderings of a 200-seat entertainment lounge, 400-seat buffet, two fine-dining restaurants and retail shops. Plus, a water park would be built as construction progresses.

According to officials, a casino in Taunton would support an estimated 2,560 permanent jobs and an $80 million annual payroll.

But at one time, Middleboro was in line to be the site for a Wampanoag tribe resort casino.

At one time, Middleboro hoped to put its townspeople to work building and staffing a casino. The town hoped it would garner the tax revenue flowing into local coffers from hosting a destination gaming resort.

That was six years ago.

Today, Middleboro has been left in the dust in the casino game, but insists it still has a pact with the tribe.

“We feel our agreement is still valid,” Town Manager Charlie Cristello said last week. “The terms under which they would build a casino we feel were never settled.”

In July 2007, a massive event was staged for Middleboro voters to weigh in on an $11 million-a-year host agreement that would have provided $250 million in infrastructure improvements for a tribal casino.

The town meeting took place on a scorching hot Saturday and brought 3,722 people out to cast votes under four huge tents set up on a 25-acre field behind the high school on Route 28.

The town provided bus service to shuttle voters in from satellite parking sites. Some 1,500 bottles of water were brought in to quench the thirst of townspeople.

It was the largest town meeting the state had ever seen. And when the votes were tallied, 2,387 voted in favor of the casino and 1,335 against.

Then, plans took a turn for the worse.

Glenn Marshall, council chairman for the Mashpee Wampanoag, came under fire for reports of a past rape conviction and misstatements about his military service. He stepped down in August 2007.

Cedric Cromwell took over for the tribe and initially the pact with Middleboro was honored.

But in 2010, the tribe announced it intended to open a casino in Fall River. That plan later fell through and the tribe turned to Taunton as a site.

Middleboro was left behind – but town leaders say they believe the pact with the tribe still stands.

According to town manager Cristello, the town has sent the tribe bills for $750,000, which he says haven’t been paid yet. The charges are for pre-planning involved in the casino resort plan.

The tribe disagrees, and in a March 2012 letter to selectmen, criticized the town for what it called “irresponsible, false and improper efforts to promote via the media a merit-less claim that the town somehow possesses legal rights against the tribe concerning the tribe’s pursuit of a destination resort and casino in Taunton.”

The town’s efforts “are also a transparent effort to try, improperly, to leverage financial concessions to which the town is not entitled,” said the tribe.

Jennifer Bray may be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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