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David Stanley Ford

WinStar Casino isn’t taking chances with tent
Inspection was planned in Thackerville before Dallas Cowboys collapse

BY CARRIE COPPERNOLL    Comments Comment on this article6
Published: May 6, 2009

THACKERVILLE — Construction officials will inspect an Oklahoma casino that has a tent structure built by the same company that built the Dallas Cowboys practice facility that collapsed Saturday.

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WinStar Casino officials scheduled the inspection out of precaution even before the Cowboys’ facility collapsed, casino spokeswoman Kym Koch said.

The tent structure at the casino is different from the one at the Cowboys’ practice field, Koch said. The WinStar tent isn’t as tall as the Cowboys’ tent. However, both tents were built by Summit Structures LLC, a fabric building company based in Allentown, Pa.

The Cowboys’ facility collapsed during a storm Saturday in Irving, Texas.

Twelve people were injured, including one man who was paralyzed from the waist down. Federal inspectors visited the collapse site Monday, said a spokeswoman for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Construction officials with the Chickasaw Nation, which owns WinStar, began planning for an inspection two weeks ago, Koch said. A team of construction experts will be hired to do the safety audit at the WinStar tent.

"In light of what’s gone on in Dallas, obviously, they’ll push that up on the burner,” she said.

Koch said she doesn’t know when the inspection will occur. In addition to regular maintenance, the tent was last inspected when it was resurfaced in 2007. The casino building was built in 2003.

Contributing:

The Associated Press

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David Stanley Ford


Related Topics: Sports, Football, Professional Football


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The people who come from Texas to Winstar spend money in Oklahoma. The people who work at Winstar, mostly live in Oklahoma & their paychecks are spent in Oklahoma as well; buying food, paying rent or mortgages, buying clothes, etc. This is how economic development occurs & if Winstar wasn't there, there would be less money in the surrounding community & thus, less money in Oklahoma. As for the Chickasaw farming out their gambling business; I do not believe they do that. When you get a job at a Chickasaw casino, it's the Chickasaw tribe who hires you & gives you your paycheck; not a gambling contractor.
Christina, Allen - May 6, 2009 at 2:46 pm
How has Winstar funded economic developement in Southern Oklahoma?
Rodith, Edmond - May 6, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Not all of the tribes farm out thier casino business. But you are right most do. And the cheesy attempt down by Texas is a joke. Of course as long as Texas doesn't allow them that thing will remain a big money maker for them and thier partners. I guess it just a sneaky way to get our nieghbors to the south to fund economic development in southern Oklahoma.
news, Shawnee - May 6, 2009 at 8:54 am
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Yea Burt. I too drove past Loosestar on the way back up from San Antonio. From the highway it looks like a Vegas structure and I was thinking they finally started building something real there. But as you say, get a bit closer you can see it's just a facade. I guess anything to get the sheeple inside. A good stiff wind would probably rip that wall clean off.
Doug, Midwest City - May 6, 2009 at 6:36 am
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It's all a facade, this gambling business. The tribes aren't running the casinos. They contract it out to professional gaming businesses and just take a slice of the action for using their names.
Walter, Edmond - May 6, 2009 at 6:35 am
I thought it was hilarious the last time I passed by the Winstar a few weeks ago. As I approached I thought they had replaced the tents with real buildings. But the absolutely hilarious thing they are doing is constructing a false facade (I guess that's an oxymoron) all around the tent buildings. It makes the whole structure look like a solid structure, which is is not. But the fake front may be something that helps is survive the kind of winds that tore apart the one in Irving. Still they need to be constantly aware of conditions and have somewhere safe for people to go. You know how bad storms can get down there. I mean the tornado that wiped out Lone Grove and hundreds of homes was just 24 miles North of the casino.
burt, edmond - May 6, 2009 at 6:18 am
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