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Osage Casino officials report good first month for new Tulsa casino

TULSA, Okla. – Osage Casino officials reported having a good first month of business for the newly opened Tulsa hotel and casino property while work continues on adding parking lot spaces and a new event center.

“Things are very good next door, you’re going to be pleased to hear some very, very good results for our first 50 days,” Osage Casino CEO Byron Bighorse said of the new Tulsa casino and hotel during the Oct. 24 Gaming Enterprise Board meeting. The new Tulsa casino property opened its doors on Aug. 29 along North 36th Street next to the former casino that opened in 2005.

Construction crews are continuing work on a parking lot that will be built where the former casino stood. After the new Tulsa casino opened and before demolition efforts started in September, the 2005 structure became a two-day training room for area law enforcement entities and casino security staff on responding to an active shooter situation, according to a KTUL-TV article.

Due to confidential business and proprietary information, Bighorse did not discuss specifics of the new casino’s business, which are discussed during the gaming board’s executive session portion of their meetings as allowed by Osage law.

In related news, gaming board chairman Mark Simms informed the meeting attendees the Osage Casino Central Services would remain at its current office space on the former Tulsa Airpark property west of the new casino amid prior meeting discussions that central offices would relocate to downtown Tulsa approximately five miles south of the casino. 

Construction work also continues on the casino’s new event and entertainment center, which is on the north side of the property near the banquet and meeting rooms that are open for special event reservations. For example, the 2018 Osage Oil & Gas Summit is scheduled Dec. 12-13 at the casino.

The new event and entertainment venue will be called Skyline Event Center and stretches across 15,000 square feet, according to an opening day casino map provided by Tulsa casino staff.


By

Benny Polacca


Original Publish Date: 2018-11-14 00:00:00

Benny Polaccahttps://osagenews.org

Title: Senior Reporter

Email: bpolacca@osagenation-nsn.gov

Instagram: @bpolacca

Topic Expertise: Government, Tribal Government, Community

Languages spoken: English, basic knowledge of Spanish and French

Benny Polacca (Hopi/ Havasupai/ Pima/ Tohono O’odham) started working at the Osage News in 2009 as a reporter in Pawhuska, Okla., where he’s covered various stories and events that impact the Osage Nation and Osage people. Those newspaper contributions cover a broad spectrum of topics and issues from tribal government matters to features. As a result, Polacca has gained an immeasurable amount of experience in covering Native American affairs, government issues and features so the Osage readership can be better informed about the tribal current affairs the newspaper covers.

Polacca is part of the Osage News team that was awarded the Native American Journalists Association's Elias Boudinet Free Press Award in 2014 and has won numerous NAJA media awards, as well as awards from the Oklahoma Press Association and SPJ Oklahoma Pro Chapter, for storytelling coverage and photography.

Polacca earned his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and also participated in the former American Indian Journalism Institute at the University of South Dakota where he was introduced to the basics of journalism and worked with seasoned journalists there and later at The Forum daily newspaper covering the Fargo, N.D. area where he worked as the weeknight reporter.

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