After years of having to fight to open a casino in Elk Grove, California, the Wilton Rancheria tribe is finally breaking ground on the new venue. It has begun the demolition of the deserted mall that sits on the property, a sign of erasing the dilapidated past in favor of a bright future. By the time the demolition and construction are complete, Elk Grove will be home to a new, $400-million casino.

The Wilton Rancheria people purchased the property in 2016, most likely not expecting to find a lot of resistance in the acquisition of an abandoned property. It had just completed the ratification of a new gaming compact with then-governor Jerry Brown and the cards were falling in their favor. Then, the legal challenges began.

Local residents, along with a group called Stand Up for California (SUFC), sued for various reasons, most notably because they believed the tribe’s application procedure for the casino violated the Indian Reorganization Act, as well as the National Environmental Policy Act. They also argued that the procedure was against California’s Public Records Act and the Ralph M. Brown Act.

Last year, a federal judge ruled in favor of the Wilton Rancheria people and then ruled in their favor again last month. The SUFC had tried to appeal the previous decision in an effort to prevent the casino from being built, but their attempts fell flat.