Following a traditional Cherokee blessing, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker cut the ribbon that officially opened the Cherokee Casino Grove on January 17. Located in the Grand Lake Region of Delaware County, the casino, the tribe’s tenth, created 175 new jobs. Baker noted, “This is a good day for the Cherokee Nation, Delaware county and the city of Grove. This facility will bring more traffic, folks will stay longer and give them one more venue, one more reason to settle here. This facility will bring extra folks and sales tax dollars up and down Main Street. There’s a saying that you are either getting bigger or smaller, and the Cherokee Nation is always getting larger.”
Cherokee Nation Business Chief Executive Officer Shawn Slaton added, “This new casino allows us to bring our leading entertainment and hospitality experience to Grove. We are known for quality guest service, being a great place to work and being an excellent community partner. It is exciting to be a part of this vibrant economy, and we look forward to serving this market.”
Grove Mayor Marty Follis said he’s anticipating economic development in the next decade due to the casino, and looking forward to the day when tribal officials “knock out a wall” and begin expanding the facility. In response, Baker said tribal officials only make one “major announcement a day.”
The 39,000 square foot, lodge-style facility was completed in 10 months and offers 400 electronic machines, a bar and restaurant, outdoor patio, live music venue and meeting space. Willie Whitekiller is the general manager and Randy Ligon is the chef. Artwork by Cherokee artists decorates the property, including a full-size, traditionally carved canoe, a traditional fishing gig and mannequins featuring actual Cherokee Nation citizens in traditional dress.
Cherokee Nation Tribal Councilor Harley Buzzard stated, “This casino will have a huge impact on our citizens and the surrounding area through jobs and services. The infrastructure improvements required to support the new casino will certainly add to the possibility of future business growth.” The tribe invested $3.8 million to expand water and sewer lines in the region.
Cherokee Nation Entertainment is the wholly owned gaming, hospitality, retail and tourism entity of the Cherokee Nation. The company operates Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa; nine Cherokee Casinos, including a horse racetrack; three hotels; three golf courses; and other retail operations. CNE employs more than 4,000 people. Cherokee Nation and its businesses have an economic impact of $1.55 billion on northeast Oklahoma’s economy.
Due west from Grove in Texas County, in Oklahoma’s panhandle, the Shawnee Tribe has applied to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to take into trust a tract of land in Guymon–400 miles from its headquarters in Miami—where it wants to build the proposed 42,000 square foot Golden Mesa Casino. The Chickasaw commercial company, Global Gaming Solutions, is partnering with the Shawnee Tribe on the project.
The Shawnee casino would be only the second to be built in Oklahoma on non-tribal land. The Kaw Tribe was permitted to build an off-reservation casino in Kay County in 2014. If the BIA approves the Shawnee’s application, the Department of the Interior and the governor also must approve it. Shawnee spokesman Brent Gooden said, “From the moment we announced the project, we have been very clear the process will take years. As expected, the process has been thorough.”
The tribe announced plans to seek the construction of the 42,000-square-foot Golden Mesa Casino on 107 acres in Texas County, two and a-half miles south of Guymon.
Panhandle Regional Economic Development Coalition Executive Director Michael Shannon said the casino would create 46 constructions jobs with a $2.1 million payroll, and 175 casino jobs with a $3.75 million payroll. He added a casino would attract tourism and other new businesses. “It’s that spinoff of the big business that is what we focus on,” Shannon said.
Opponents of the proposed casino include Lucinda Ray of Panhandle Citizens for Truth in Gaming. Among her group’s concerns are the loss of tax revenue plus the social problems the casino could cause. “It’s not a Native American issue. The issues are economic. The issues are social costs. The issues are that it is unprecedented,” she said.
Gooden said social issues are not automatic problems where casinos are built. “We encourage everyone to research the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting statistics. The numbers show no consistent link in crime rates in any Oklahoma town where a casino opened. In fact, in the past 10 years, crime actually decreased in several cities following the opening of casino. The perception that crime rates will increase due to the opening of a casino is simply not supported by the statistics,” Gooden said. He added, “We train our employees to not only encourage and support responsible gaming practices, but also to recognize a potential problem and respectfully intervene.”
State Senator Bryce Marlatt has spoken out against the casino, but he said nontribal casino operators who potentially could generate revenue for the state should be considered. “There are a lot of social ills that come from gambling, and we see them frequently. If we are going to start branching out of the parameters, maybe we need to reevaluate how we do it,” he said.
Meanwhile, since the deadline for opposing the environmental assessment was January 14, the tribe now will have wait to hear from the BIA regarding the land-trust application.
