The Emerald Queen paddle wheel boat that served as a casino in Fife from 1997 to 2004 has been sold. It was seen on Elliott Bay on Feb. 23.
Photo by Greg Haapla
information from the Puyallup Tribe
The Puyallup Tribe’s Emerald Queen Riverboat has a new owner and will be repurposed.
Anchored on the Blair Waterway, the riverboat served the Tribe as a floating casino from 1997 to 2004. Today the Tribe operates two Emerald Queen Casinos, one in Fife and one in Tacoma that opened in 2020.
In recent years it was a familiar sight to customers at the Tribe’s annual Firecracker Alley fireworks market.
“The riverboat served our Tribe well and laid the foundation for us to open and operate the two premier casinos in the Northwest,” the Puyallup Tribal Council said.
Spectral Crane and Marine will be taking over ownership of the boat, which began its journey to Seattle by tugboat on Thursday. Moving the riverboat will open up more of the Tribe’s port property for economic development.