Five casino operators have submitted proposals to win a gaming license in Pope County, Arkansas, even though most of the public remains opposed to the idea. In the November election, Arkansas voters approved a referendum allowing one casino each in Pope County and Jefferson County plus full-scale casinos at Oaklawn and Southland racetracks. However, Pope County voters rejected the measure, 60 percent to 40 percent, and also added a local ordinance requiring a countywide referendum to support the casino. That hasn’t happened yet, but meanwhile the Arkansas Racing Commission took the bids for the project and will review them on June 13.
The leading proposal comes from a joint venture between Hard Rock International and Warner Gaming have formed a joint venture to build a casino in Pope County. Warner operates casinos in Nevada, New Mexico, Washington and Iowa and already partners with Hard Rock in Sioux City, Iowa and Las Vegas.
Warner Gaming Chief Executive Bill Warner said the proposal includes a gaming space, 300-room hotel, conference center, Hard Rock Café with indoor and outdoor live music and a Bo Jackson sports complex. Warner said, “Music is a destination. We have experienced it in Iowa and Las Vegas and other Hard Rocks have experienced the same thing. Music will draw people to the property, and it’ll draw people to Pope County.”
He added “I think we need to do our best to just help people understand what we would bring. I think when that vote happened my guess is there was an element of uncertainty as to what a casino would be. I think I could talk for a half-hour about the property without even talking about the casino. And I think that this property would bring a lot of economic development to Pope County.”
Gulfside Casino Partnership submitted the first casino application on May 20. Other casino operators who have applied for the license are the Cherokee Nation, which proposed a $200 million casino and 300-room hotel; the Choctaw Nation; and Robert and Ruth Kehl Family.
Dan Kehl, chief executive officer at Kehl Management Inc. and Elite Casino Resorts LLC, said his company’s $216 million proposal includes a 300-room hotel, pool and entertainment venues, convention center and outdoor amphitheater. He said, “We like operating in a smaller community and think we could make a positive impact. We’re a family run business, and being involved in the community is something that we like to be a part of and we like to be impactful.”
