New Osage Casino construction delayed to 2023
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The Osage Nation is delaying the opening of its new Bartlesville and Pawhuska casinos to 2023 due to supply chain problems with construction materials.
Construction on both projects began June 15, 2021, with the Tribe announcing at the time expected openings in fall 2022. Now, the Bartlesville casino is expected to open on Oct. 27, 2023 and the Pawhuska location on Nov. 10, 2023.
“Both of these new properties in Bartlesville and Pawhuska have been highly anticipated as the demand for our casinos continues to grow. Unfortunately, supply chain issues have created a delay that we could not avoid,” said Byron Bighorse, chief executive officer of Osage Casinos, in a press release.
The projects will relocate and expand the tribe’s existing casinos in Pawhuska and outside Bartlesville in Osage County. Both new locations will feature hotels, pools, spas, fitness areas and meeting space, which are not present in the existing locations.
The new Bartlesville facility will be on a 125-acre property at 1803 U.S. Highway 60, less than two miles west of downtown. 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.
It will also have 100 hotel rooms and 11,800 square feet of meeting space.
In April, the Bartlesville City Council agreed to provide utility service and improve utility infrastructure nearby the planned casino.
While the city already serves the area of the new facility with water utilities, the wastewater connection system will need upgrades to accommodate additional load from the casino. The city and the Osage Nation agreed to split the cost of upgrades, with the tribe paying $1 million and the city paying $870,000.
“The nation, being located outside of city limits, will not be subject to city sales tax, will not be subject to city lodging tax, to any of those things … At the same time, our responsibility to provide wastewater service to them doesn’t exist, we’re providing this at their request,” Bartlesville City Manager Mike Bailey said at the time of the agreement.
Through the agreement, the tribe will do the work of designing the necessary upgrades to city and state specifications, and the city will have 10 years to complete work on the system.
Also stipulated in the agreement is an obligation for the tribe to pay the city 5% of revenue from hotel stays. This is expected to be between $9,000 and $12,000 monthly, depending on the time of year, among other factors.
The Pawhuska location will be on a 60-acre plot at 1421 John Dahl Ave., across State Highway 60 from the current location. It will have 250 electronic games, a 47-room hotel and 3,675 square feet of meeting space.
