About 400 people recently attended a public meeting at the Pine Bluff Convention Center in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where Quapaw Nation Chairman John L. Berrey outlined plans for the Saracen Casino Resort. The Quapaw Nation and its Downstream Development Authority plan to apply next month to the Arkansas Racing Commission for a casino license.
Besides answering questions about the new venue, Berrey’s team also was seeking area construction workers and sub-contractors to work on the project as soon as it receives the license. About 1,100 jobs will need to be filled before the resort opens in summer 2020, Quapaw Nation spokesman Sean Harrison said. “Chairman Berrey says we will break ground 10 minutes after the license is in hand,” he stated.
Berrey said he’s confident the Quapaw Nation will receive a gaming license. He noted, “Since we’re the only applicant, they have something to focus on. We have the only letter of support that I’m aware of and we have a good relationship with the city and the county so I would hope if that were not the case they would tell me.”
Berrey said, “Tonight is just one more step in our journey to hopefully getting a license and developing a facility here that will hopefully lift up the economy in the local area. We want to put an emphasis on hiring local folks and getting them integrated into the construction project. And, we’re also hoping to make contact with some people who we would like to have work in our local facility.”
The $350 million development will include an 80,000 square foot casino with 2,000 slot machines and 50 gaming tables. A 300-room hotel attached to the casino will offer a conference center, indoor and outdoor entertainment venues, spa, restaurants and lounges, plus a museum and cultural center, Berrey said. In addition, the facility will include a health clinic, child learning center and daycare for employees.
“Because we are a nation and not a for-profit, we can put the money we make back into the community, into our employees. We’ve fixed up a few basketball courts, some pavilions, we just finished repaving the county health department parking lot and we’ll have it striped by next week. We’re kind of idle right now so we’re just trying to stay busy. I was at the basketball court, one of them at Hudson Park, that we fixed up and that thing was just packed with kids playing basketball,” Berrey said.
Jo Keegan, with the Department of Workforce Services, said area residents have expressed great interest in job opportunities at the new Saracen venue. “We’ve been overwhelmed. A lot of people have come up already. There is a lot of interest,” she said.
Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson added, “I think it will draw people here, bring people back home and along with it bring some hope and opportunities. Is it a save-all? No. But it is a start.”
