By Greg Grisolano
ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com
OTTAWA COUNTY, Okla. — It took about one minute for Carol Murphy to see a return on her investment at the penny slot machine at the Downstream Casino Resort Saturday.
“I just hit for $26,” said Murphy, who along with her husband, left their home in Springfield and arrived about 8 a.m. in order to be among the first people at the casino’s grand opening. “It’s the bottom jackpot. I wish it could have been the $5,000 one, but it wasn’t.”
With long lines of cars and people, other gamblers wound up having to wait longer for a shot at prosperity.
David Maugans and his mother, Phyllis, said they waited in traffic for more than an hour to get into the parking lot.
“I’m worried about what it’s going to be like when we leave,” said Phyllis, who drove from Independence, Kan. “If I have to wait like that to get out, I’m not going to have enough gas to get home.”
Traffic was backed up along Interstate 44 and Kansas Highway 166. The casino is built on Oklahoma land near the junction of Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. The parking lot is in Kansas.
Officials with the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma said they hope the traffic is a sign they made a wise investment. Tribal officials said more than 10,000 people packed the gaming floor within the first hour of business.
“It’s a completely full house,” said Sean Harrison, a spokesman for the tribe. “Ten thousand people in the first hour pretty much speaks for itself.”
While thousands rushed to play video poker, slot machines and blackjack, Harry Kelley headed for the Legends sports bar to cool off with a drink after waiting outside for more than an hour in the heat.
“With this building here, they’re getting to be like Las Vegas casinos,” said Kelley, a retired truck driver from Joplin. “The scenery outside reminds me of Tahoe more than anything.”
Manhattan Construction Co. of Tulsa is doing some of the work on the $301 million project, which also includes the 13-story hotel that is to open later.
Construction of the casino took just 10 months and 26 days, something tribal leaders said was initially thought to be impossible.
“We built something faster, quicker and bigger than anybody in history has done,” said J.R. Mathews, vice chairman of the Downstream Development Authority.
Tribal chairman John Berrey said the casino opening was dedicated to the memories of tribal members no longer living.
The tribe invited Missouri State Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, to speak at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Nodler thanked the tribe for making a significant investment in Missouri by purchasing the former Loma Linda Country Club and for hiring hundreds of Missouri workers.
“A tremendous number of Missouri citizens are employed in this enterprise,” he said. “For all of those reasons, we want to thank the Quapaw people for their investment here.”
More than 1,200 people are expected to be employed once the resort hotel opens this fall.
Barry Switzer
Former Dallas Cowboys and Oklahoma Sooners head football coach Barry Switzer was on hand for the grand opening of the Downstream Casino Resort Saturday.
Switzer, who is the casino’s official celebrity spokesman, offered words of encouragement for the tribe, which he compared to underdogs who accomplished the impossible by getting the casino built in record time.
“I knew exactly how (tribal chairman John Berrey) felt ... because I had the same feeling when I beat (Nebraska) up in Lincoln and won a Big Eight championship,” said the coach, referencing a famous victory by his Sooners over the Cornhuskers.
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