Quapaw Nation returns home with gaming project in Arkansas

Thursday, June 13, 2019

An artist's rendering of the Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Image: Quapaw Nation

The Quapaw Nation has won approval to open a commercial casino on ancestral territory in Arkansas.

The $350 million Saracen Casino Resort [PDF: Tribal Presentation] will be located on a 345-acre site in Pine Bluff in Jefferson County. The development is named in honor of Chief Saracen, who was laid to rest in the city in 1832 at the age of 97.

“We view ourselves as community developers. That means we develop a commercial enterprise for the right reasons -- for the betterment of communities and their citizens,” Chairman John Berrey said in a press release on Thursday. “I believe the people of Pine Bluff are already seeing that. They understand this is where we came from; this is a homecoming for us.”

Artist's renderings of the Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Images: Quapaw Nation

Saracen Development, LLC, a tribal entity, was the sole applicant for the gaming license in Jefferson County. The application was approved at a meeting of the Arkansas Racing Commission on Thursday.

Construction is slated to begin immediately and will create about 1,000 jobs, according to the tribe. The work is expected to take 11 months.

“We were granted the state’s casino license today, and we are digging in -- literally as we speak -- to build a showcase of a resort that will supercharge the region’s economy and excite the people of Arkansas,” Berrey said.

The casino is expected to open in the spring of 2020. The tribe plans to hire about 1,100 permanent employees.

Voters in Arkansas approved gaming at four locations, including one in Jefferson County, through passage of Issue 4 on the November 2018 ballot. The tribe was a primary backer of the initiative.

The tribe operates two Indian gaming facilities in Oklahoma -- the Quapaw Casino in Miami, and the Downstream Casino Resort in Quapaw. Downstream also extends into the neighboring states of Kansas and Missouri but gaming does not currently occur on those portions of the property.

Read More on the Story

Quapaw Nation granted license for $350 million Arkansas casino (The Joplin Globe June 13, 2019)
Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff gets license approval from Arkansas Racing Commission (FOX16 June 13, 2019)
Pope County casino applications rejected as incomplete. Quapaw casino approved in Jefferson County (The Arkansas Times June 13, 2019)

Saracen Casino Resort - Tribal Presentation [PDF]

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