The River Spirit Casino, being constructed at 81st Street and Riverside Drive, will rival Oklahoma City's Bricktown district after the entire project is complete, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation chief predicted during a press conference Tuesday.

The first phase of the project is the casino, which will open in February 2009 as the largest casino floor in the state. Chief A.D. Ellis announced the name, logo and details of the casino Tuesday.

The $160 million casino will offer 300,000 square feet of gaming space filled with more than 2,800 gaming machines, 24 table games, 15 tables in a poker room, several dining venues and a 1,300-space parking garage.

Outside the casino, a 72-foot pylon will support a digital sign, and 100 plasma-screen televisions inside the building will replace conventional signage.

The February opening will mark the completion of the first phase of the Creek Nation's plans for the area. The second phase includes building a hotel and conference center, and the final phase will add theaters and a family destination point, Ellis said.

The second phase will begin in the spring of 2009, and the tribe is looking for developers for projects on tribal property alongside the banks of the Arkansas River, Ellis said.

"I think within the next five or six years, this is going to surpass Oklahoma City's Bricktown," Ellis said. "We have about 140 acres, so it's probably unlimited what we can do. We're really going to help the city of Tulsa grow."

Ellis said the announcement of the name and casino details come after years of hard work by tribal officials.

"It's a great day for the Muscogee Nation," Ellis said. "We've been looking forward to this for years and years. It was a dream we had many years ago. Coming from high-stakes bingo back in 1985 to where we're at today to the largest casino in the state of Oklahoma, it's been a great trip. It's been a rough trip sometimes. It's going to be a great day in February."

The casino project will not only attract about 550 new jobs, but officials hope it will provide more money for tribal programs, Ellis said.

"We don't look at it as a gambling place," Ellis said. "It's a business bringing in revenue for our nation, and we always need more revenue for programs for our people."

I've yet to see casino construction anywhere that does anything more than provide a very artificial resemblance to real buildings. I have my doubts that they'll recreate Bricktown. But perhaps they'll build a place people want to go. It's not going to compete with Bricktown, being 100 miles away, so have at it, I say.

No new construction will ever rival Bricktown's historic character.

I bet all of those south Tulsans will love the huge bright screen on all the time. I am surprised they haven't protested it.

That's assuming this project even happens as planned. Tulsa has problems with that lately. And it sure seems like they are more than saturated on upscale casinos for a city of 800,000.

I looked at flashearth and I just cant see where something like that is gonna fit in unless it's in that triangular tract of land on the SE corner.

I went up to T town on MON evening and noticed alone the Creek Turnpike just before going over the river that they are clearing a lot of land to the south. Wonder what's going in there. Probably the wrong place to ask...being this IS okctalk!

Nice hype.

That is The River District. That has a better chance bring a Bricktown Rival than the Casino. It is rumored that Nordstrom and Crate and Barrel are coming to The River District's $600 Million Development.

I looked at flashearth and I just cant see where something like that is gonna fit in unless it's in that triangular tract of land on the SE corner.

I went up to T town on MON evening and noticed alone the Creek Turnpike just before going over the river that they are clearing a lot of land to the south. Wonder what's going in there. Probably the wrong place to ask...being this IS okctalk!

If it was on the SW corner, then that would be the River District Project in Jenks. It will be sweet when its done, but I interned for a bank this summer that was completing the financing on it. At last check, it was running into trouble as far as securing tenants due to the economy.

The Creek Nation Casino will be further up north between S 81st and 91st on the Tulsa side of the river. It doesn't seem like a lot of space, and just being up there (in Tulsa) this summer, it seems that South Tulsa is becoming really saturated with retail. I don't know how it will sustain all of it even with all the growth that is going on in Jenks and Bixby.

It also does seem rather overkill for Tulsa to now have three "supercasinos"--Creek Nation, Cherokee, and Osage Nation--more or less in the Tulsa city limits plus other smaller ones in and around the area. This is an area mind you that has 25% fewer people than here. In comparison, there is one in OKC--Remington Park--and only two casinos of similar size--Riverwind and Firelake Grand--that are situated on the edge of the metro area. It makes you wonder about the proposed casino on the NE side of town and whether OKC will avoid the oversaturation that is likely to be an issue in Tulsa.

Tulsa is closer to a state border than OKC, I think, right? That helps.

how can you compare a casino to bricktown? plus all the casino hype in the state of oklahoma is way over-rated, take riverwind for example, by nowthey should have been on there last phase, but all they have is a casino and some restaurants plus fast food choices.. it is nothing at all like a major casino resort.. Whatever happenedto the casino that have family features likea mall, a large arcade,small indoor theme park with some rides, family dinning etc, now that would be a fun place to stay at.

And we all know that casinos only attract the finest of our citizens.

no they dont just attract the finest citizens, but there is a lot of those people who bash casinos then you run into them at one having fun..

how can you compare a casino to bricktown? plus all the casino hype in the state of oklahoma is way over-rated, take riverwind for example, by nowthey should have been on there last phase, but all they have is a casino and some restaurants plus fast food choices.. it is nothing at all like a major casino resort.. Whatever happenedto the casino that have family features likea mall, a large arcade,small indoor theme park with some rides, family dinning etc, now that would be a fun place to stay at.

Actually, Riverwind is opening their hotel on New Year's... then immediately begining construction on a new wing for the hotel. It may not be like a major casino in vegas... but the gaming revenue is. Riverwind has 2300+ slots. The MGM grand with the largest hotel in the world has 2600. The Chickasaw Nation (Riverwind) is also massively expanding the Winstar Casino. It will be the largest casino in the world with over 8000 slots. You can't find a seat at Winstar on the weekends.

Gambling is a tax on the arithmetically-challenged.

I heard that they (Chickasaw Nation) will also more than double the size of Riverwind in the very near future as well.

Bricktown =/= Casino.

I don't see how one, in any measurable sense could rival the other. Steve, I think said it best. "Nice hype."

But how 'bout this -- Bricktown is a growing and changing entertainment Mecca for central Oklahoma. This is the case because Bricktown offers up a unique experience for the region, and it's casino-free. Tulsa is already awash with "luxury" casino/hotel complexes. This place needs to actually be built as planned before it rivals anything.

-- and even then, it'll be about as "unique" as a casino/hotel ever was.

This place needs to actually be built as planned before it rivals anything.

Exactly. And Tulsa doesn't have a great track record.

Bricktown =/= Casino.

-- and even then, it'll be about as "unique" as a casino/hotel ever was.

Yeah. Nobody's thought to build a casino in Oklahoma before now.

(Need a sarcasm smilie here)

I live in Jenks and there has been development along the river with River Walk. It is nice but businesses come and go just like they do in Bricktown. They have cleared land for the River District with "upscale shopping" but this project is in trouble and has been put on hold for a year. This project, if completed, could compete with anything in the region. The Creek Casino project competing with Bricktown is one of the worst comparisions I have ever heard. The new casino they are building is nice but Riverwind is just as nice. The casino is behind schedule and if a hotel is ever built I would be surprised. The rest of the plans called for a boardwalk type setting with boat shuttles down the river. The casino is just south of a bad part of town with a lot of crime. So if you want to go get mugged in the parking lot come on up to Tulsa's Bricktown district!

BRICKTOWN > Any oklahoma casino complex

Maybe the shawnee tribe will get their land into trust and build theirs on N I-35

Gross and lol.

I don't consider any of the casinos in Oklahoma "tourist destinations" until they rival one of the casinos in Vegas. They can have all the slots they want, but as long as their restaurants are at best Chilis, they don't compare.

If they get a Cirque de Soleil and a 4 star restaurant with Wolfgang Puck or Emeril, then I will consider them a rival to bricktown.

...until they rival one of the casinos in Vegas

Or even Shreveport, Mississippi, Kansas City...

Oklahoma gaming is bad. The resorts are not that impressive either. The reality is that anyone who is not in close proximity to the casino that can afford a plane ticket to Vegas or a little bit more of a drive to one of the places above they will choose doing that over going to an OK casino almost every time.

As long as the gambling is inferior to all of those other places, then it's hard to imagine any OK casino having much impact on interstate tourism outside of drawing from the immediate border. Granted there is plenty of that market to maintain these projects, but I don't think that you're going to get the desired economic impact that supporters and "hypers" of these projects suggest.

I have absolutely nothing against casinos and I wouldn't fight a nice one in OKC, however, Oklahoma needs to wake up and realizes that if we're going to have gaming, we might as well make it competitive. I doubt we will see much significant positive impact on our economy or quality of life due to these casinos until they are allowed to compete with other state's gaming rules. Besides, everyone in the country is within a days drive of at least one crappy casino. It just really isn't that big of a deal anymore, even when they're nice.