Las Vegas-based Warner Gaming announced it will partner with Hard Rock International to develop a casino resort in Pope County, Arkansas, including a gaming floor, hotel, restaurants, conference facilities and entertainment venues. Warner officials said the company will file a gaming license application in May.
Warner Gaming owner and Chief Executive Officer Bill Warner said, “We aim to deliver to Pope County a facility that will attract visitors throughout the region and beyond.” He added, “Arkansans have decided to keep the jobs and tax revenues associated with casino gaming within the state, and we are excited for the opportunity to be a part of that. In the coming weeks, we will continue our discussions with Pope County residents so that we can get a feel for what the community would like to see in a project like this. Our past experience has taught us that community input and involvement is critical to our success.”
Last November, Arkansas voters approved an amendment allowing four casino gaming licenses in the state—at the racinos Southland and Oaklawn, and one each in Jefferson County and Pope County. But in addition, a measure passed that would require a majority of registered county voters to approve a Pope County judge’s letter of support for a casino.
Pope County Judge Ben Cross said that requirement would be difficult to achieve. He noted Mississippi casino developer sued the county over former Pope County Judge Jim Ed Gibson’s letter of support that later was rescinded. “Personally I don’t think a local vote matters,” Gibson said.
In a statement regarding the situation, Scott Hardin, spokesperson for the Arkansas Racing Commission, said applications for the Jefferson and Pope County casinos will be accepted May 1 through May 31. “Commissioners will review applications as they are submitted. The rules require each application be accompanied by a letter of support from the local mayor or county judge. If an application is submitted without this, the commission must decide whether to review or reject it based on the lack of the letter.
The time frame in which the Jefferson County and Pope County licenses are issued will be determined by the total number of applications received. It is possible a license could be issued as soon as June 13 during a scheduled meeting of the commission.” Hardin added the commission has not received a support letter from Pope County.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles-based Tutor Perini Corporation, a civil, building and specialty construction company, its subsidiary, Roy Anderson Corporation, was awarded a $200 million contract by Southland owner Delaware North, to add a new casino complex and hotel at Southland Gaming and Racing Park in West Memphis.
The project will include a casino with 60 live table games and 400 slots added to the current 2,000; a 20-story, 300-room hotel, expanded buffet and steakhouse restaurants, a new food court, coffee shop and players lounge. Tutor officials said the work would begin immediately with “substantial completion” by January 2021. Delaware North Co-Chief Executive Officer Lou Jacobs said the expansion “represents the largest ever investment in a casino in Arkansas and one of the largest for a hospitality project.”
A $100 million expansion also is scheduled at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, a 114-year-old thoroughbred track and the state’s top visitor attraction.
