A court ruling allows the Stoney Nakoda First Nation to begin construction of a casino and hotel west of Calgary.

The court ruling Wednesday has likely put an end to demonstrations by three elders of the band who claimed they owned the land, which they said was sacred and used for ceremonies.

Construction on the casino and hotel development was supposed to start last summer, but the elder women and their families refused to move for survey and construction workers.

A Calgary judge granted a permanent injunction against any protests on the work site, along the Trans-Canada Highway, at the intersection of Highway 40.

Trez McCaskill, the band’s chief operating officer, hopes that the delay won’t mean the project will now cost more than the original USD 40 million budget.

„Contractors and everything are in high demand in the whole Calgary region,“ he said. „And for them to work in an area where there’s likely demonstrations and stuff inflated the tendering process we had initially and there were concerns of safety issues if they went to work on this site.“

McCaskill says the project should start next month and take about a year to build.