PEORIA — When the nation's newest casino opens today, customers will exit the highway in Missouri, then park in Kansas.
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But the only governments to reap the casino's financial windfall are in Oklahoma.
Because the Quapaw Nation's Downstream Casino sits (barely) in Oklahoma, the tribe is expected to generate at least $1.5 million a year for Oklahoma's public education system through a 6 percent "exclusivity fee” from profits off the casino's 1,800 compacted games.
The biggest winner, however, will be the tribe and its 3,500 members.
The tribe plans to upgrade its health care and scholarship offerings with much of the revenue. New tribal programs also are planned, as are unspecified programs to help nearby residents in all three states with land touching the casino property, casino spokesman Sean Harrison said.
Construction took less than 11 months, which Quapaw Chief John Berrey said is a record for a project of its scope.
"It is unheard of in this business, opening ahead of schedule and millions of dollars under budget,” Harrison said.
Harrison said some of the nation's top gaming consultants participated in Downstream's planning, including G. Michael "Mickey” Brown, who was instrumental in creating Atlantic City's casino culture in the early 1980s. Brown later helped an obscure Connecticut tribe create Foxwoods, which at the time was the world's largest casino.
Berrey met Brown at a Las Vegas gaming convention and told him about the Downstream project. Brown said it didn't take much urging to become its project manager.
"When I first heard what the Quapaw Tribe had in mind to create here, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. And it has exceeded my expectations,” Brown said.
The authority hired 1,100 workers over the past two months. Another 200 hires are expected before the casino's adjoining 12-story hotel opens this fall.
Contributing: State Correspondent Sheila Stogsdill
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More Info
About Downstream Casino
•Location: On the Oklahoma/Kansas/Missouri state line, seven miles from Joplin, Mo., and 17 miles from Miami, OK.
•Size: 70,000 square feet.
•Games: 2,000 slot machines.
•Cost: $301 million, which includes an adjoining 12-story hotel.
•Employees: 1,100, with 200 more planned when the hotel opens.
•Other amenities: Five restaurants and a sports bar in the casino, with two 18-hole golf courses across the highway (one is closed for remodeling).
•Construction time: 10 months, 26 days.
•Coming later: Set to open in November is a 12-story, 222-room hotel, featuring 15 luxury suites, a spa and conference center. The Quapaw Tribe also plans to build a second hotel tower and a state-of-the-art convention center.
•Projected economic impact: 2 million annual visits, $42 million in payroll and tips, $30 million in goods and services purchased locally.
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