"As director of planning and development, Cherokee is advancing in an extremely positive manner regarding existing and current retail expansion. Wal-Mart Corp. USA has just submitted a lease for Tribal Council approval to build a 157,000-square-feet super center on the Qualla Boundary. This would not be happening if everyone was only patronizing Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Hotel, as Forsyth said.

In addition, a private development company is in the process of building an 80,000-square-feet major retail center along the U.S. 441 entrance corridor to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Hotel complex. Sequoyah National Championship Golf Course is being constructed by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and was designed by Robert Trent Jones II. It is scheduled to open next year and will rival any golf course in the region.

Also, according to Mary Jane Ferguson, director of tribal marketing and promotions division, Cherokee’s major cultural attractions have experienced a steady increase in visitor attendance this year. Due to adverse economic circumstances, this is not the case for other areas in our immediate region.

Combine all the aforementioned economic development activities with an extremely successful “blockbuster” stadium seat theatre, which opened only a few weeks ago and is the first of its kind in western North Carolina, and I would be inclined to take the opposing viewpoint about economic success in Cherokee."

Get the Story:
Mickey Duvall: Downtown Cherokee doing just fine, thank you (The Cherokee Scout 8/27)