Oklahoma: Osage breaks ground on two new casinos

Osage Casinos broke ground on two new casino-hotels Tuesday in Pawhuska and Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

The projects were first announced in June 2020, completion of the facilities has been delayed throughout the planning process, but both are expected to open in fall of 2022.

The $90 million investment, which will go toward replacing existing casinos at those locations, has been in the works for years. The Osage Nation applied with the U.S. Interior Department in 2014 to transfer the Bartlesville property into a federal trust for use in gaming. That was followed by the initiative in Pawhuska in 2016.

The transfers were approved in June, and in April the tribe approved credit agreements for construction of the projects. 

“We received approval for both applications last summer and immediately got to work on adjusting the scope of the properties to accommodate today’s construction costs,” Byron Bighorse, CEO of Osage Casinos, said in a statement. “Demand in both markets continues to rise, and I am proud that we worked together as an enterprise to see this come to fruition.”

The Pawhuska project will be spread over 60 acres, at 1421 John Dahl Ave., across Oklahoma 60 from its current location and will accommodate a 47-room hotel, 3,675 square feet of meeting space and 250 electronic games. It also will include a fitness center and pool and hot tub area.
 
The casino in Bartlesville will sit on 125 acres at 1803 U.S. 60, about 2 miles west of downtown, and include 86 luxury hotel rooms (15 suites) and 10,560 square feet of meeting space. The facility also will have full-service catering, a patio, fitness center and pool and hot tub area. It will be 57,4000 square feet and have 500 slot machines, up from the current location’s 42,000 square feet and 440 slot machines. 

Both casinos were initially planned to be larger, but the tribe reduced the projects’ scope due to construction costs, Bighorse said. 

The Osage Tribe Gaming Enterprise Board provides oversight for the business arm known as Osage Casinos.