By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

John Berrey, business chairman for the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma, on Monday led the Cherokee County, Kan., commissioners on a tour of the tribe’s new Downstream Casino Resort.

The casino is scheduled to open in less than a month, on July 5. A hotel under construction is scheduled to open in the fall. The price tag on the project is $301 million. The casino and hotel, just off Interstate 44 where Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas meet, is expected to hire 1,200 workers by the end of the year. The casino and hotel are in Oklahoma, while the parking lot is in Cherokee County.

“We’re just glad to show it off to you guys,” Berrey said.

Berrey said the casino will pay 100 percent of the benefits packages of employees. Each employee will be served a free meal during his or her shift, he said.

Berrey showed the commissioners room-size freezers and refrigerators. Employees use cards to clock in and clock out, for security purposes.

There are 420 video surveillance cameras on site, and Berrey showed the commissioners the room where security employees would be viewing the video screens.

Berrey said the information technology room contains $8 million to $10 million worth of computer servers, stacked floor to ceiling.

He showed the commissioners the counting rooms and poker rooms. He then showed them the gambling floor.

“We tried really hard to make it native and natural, and also pretty classy,” Berrey said of the decor.

The steakhouse seats 97 in its main room and has more seating in a private dining room, Berrey said.

The casino also has a sports bar, a buffet and a performance stage.

“I’ll need to know where the buffet is,” said Cherokee County Counselor Kevin Cure.

The gambling floor contains a large, circular bar in the center that includes what one might describe as a light sculpture reaching to the ceiling. Berrey said bartenders would be on duty all the way around the circle.