Oklahoma tribe starts casino construction

In northern Oklahoma and the Osage Nation has reportedly begun construction on a pair of new casinos some eleven months after having its associated land-into-trust applications approved by the United States Department of the Interior.

According to a Tuesday report from the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise newspaper, the two Osage Casino Hotel-branded venues are set to replace smaller forerunners so as to allow the federally-recognized tribe to boost its revenues following the substantial disturbance recently caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Both of the coming Osage County developments will purportedly feature hotels, spas, pools, fitness areas and meeting spaces as a way of attracting even more visitors and increasing the overall region’s tourism offerings.

Pawhuska project:

The newspaper reported that the first of the Osage Nation’s coming properties is destined to be located in the small community of Pawhuska and feature a 47-room hotel and 3,675 sq ft of meeting space alongside a casino offering in the region of 250 electronic games. This fresh development is purportedly set to occupy a 60-acre plot of land across the street from the tribe’s existing Osage Casino Pawhuska enterprise and be approximately 56 miles north of the city of Tulsa.

Bartlesville business:

The Osage Nation reportedly detailed that its second new project is to be situated on a 125-acre site about two miles west of the city of Bartlesville and serve as a replacement for its Osage Casino Bartlesville venue, which opened in 2006 featuring a 42,000 sq ft casino with 440 slots. The tribe purportedly explained that this coming venture is to open with a 101-room hotel alongside 10,560 sq ft of meeting space and a 57,4000 sq ft gaming floor with 500 slots.

Diminished designs:

Byron Bighorse serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the Oklahoma tribe’s casino-operating Osage Casinos venture and he reportedly told the newspaper that the pair of new projects were initially planned to be larger but that this size was later reduce owing to escalating construction costs. He furthermore purportedly disclosed that the scheme to open larger gambling-friendly enterprises began in January of 2014 and that each of the coming facilities will feature improved ‘ease of access for our customers.’

Bighorse reportedly pronounced…

“We received approval for both applications last summer and immediately got to work on adjusting the scope of the properties to accommodate today’s construction costs. Demand in both markets continues to rise and I am proud that we worked together as an enterprise to see this come to fruition.”

Enticing expectations:

The Executive Director for the Bartlesville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Maria Gus, reportedly told the newspaper that the two new venues are certain to provide travellers with improved accommodation options to ensure ‘longer stays and more days in the area’ while simultaneously giving the region even more space with which to host conferences.

Gus reportedly told the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise…

“This truly just helps grow the impact of our regional destination. I hope what it does is also help our hotels to work harder to get more visitors to the area.”