Middleborough Seeks Damages For Soured Casino Deal

Officials in a Massachusetts town left out in the cold by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's efforts to build a resort casino want to be compensated.

The tribe and Middleborough signed a deal five years ago to build a casino in the community that has billed itself as the "Cranberry Capital of the World'.' But the Wampanoags abandoned their efforts to build in Middleborough, and now plan on constructing a casino in Taunton.

Middleborough officials say the community sacrificed money and development opportunities.

Select Board Chairman Alfred Rullo Jr. tells The Boston Globe the town wants "a combination of land and money" as compensation. He did not say how much, but called it "substantial."

A lawyer for the tribe told the town Middleborough's claims are "irresponsible, false, and improper."