Connecticut’s two tribal gaming operators plan to start work on the site of their controversial joint venture casino before the year is through.

On Wednesday, the Hartford Courant reported that the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes planned to commence construction of their East Windsor casino by the end of 2017, with the first step being the demolition of a former cinema that currently sits on the property in the northern portion of the state.

While state legislators have signed off on the tribes’ plans to build a third casino off tribal land, the federal Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has been less clear on whether the new casino would void the tribes’ existing gaming compacts, which require each tribe to kick back 25% of their slots revenue to the state in exchange for slots exclusivity and the promise that no other casinos would be authorized in the state.

In September, the BIA issued a letter in September detailing its view that action on the tribes’ proposed amendments to their gaming compacts was “premature and likely unnecessary.” In October, tribal reps met with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who asked them to submit information explaining why the department needed to comment on a commercial casino project to be built off tribal land.