POPE COUNTY, Ark. — During a meeting held on Thursday, the Arkansas Racing Commission voted unanimously to give the Pope County casino license to Cherokee Nation Entertainment.
The decision came after Cherokee Nation officials gave a final presentation to show why they believed that they'd been the right choice all along.
Cherokee Nation Entertainment CEO Chuck Garrett helped give the presentation, and he told commission members about his company's financial stability and their history with projects like this one.
"Primarily they're looking for an experienced operator,” Garrett said. “Cherokee Nation Entertainment has over 30 years of experience in gaming and hospitality."
The decision was celebrated by many, including Pope County Judge Ben Cross who was the person who initially supported the Cherokee Nation’s bid so that it could go in front of the commission.
He named several factors that he said led him to his decision.
"Their financial backing, the fact that they don't need any outside resources for financial,” Cross said. “And the fact that they are the ones that have stuck by the community, they've had an office in our community, they've been paying taxes in our community."
The commission agreed and made the decision after asking questions of the Cherokee Nation representatives, as well as hearing from their own third-party consultant who evaluated the application.
They also scored the application based on four criteria: experience, timeline, financial stability, and a detailed summary of the proposed casino.
Once all the requirements were satisfied, the license was officially rewarded.
Garrett said that there will be a short celebration period, but then, it'll be time to get to work on what the company is planning to call Legends Resort and Casino Arkansas.
"Now that we have the license, we anticipate another 60 to 90 days of permitting, and then we'll move into development and construction,” he explained. "So what we're expecting is, in a couple of years, we're going to have a really impressive resort and casino for the people of Pope County in the River Valley."
The decision comes six years after Arkansans passed Amendment 100, which allowed four casino licenses for the state of Arkansas.
The other three casinos are already open in Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, and West Memphis.