Chitimacha Tribe marks 20th birthday of gaming enterprise

Thursday, January 9, 2014  

The Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana is celebrating 20 years of being in the Indian gaming business.

The tribe opened a bingo hall in 1988. The Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel opened in December 1993 and business has been growing ever since.

“It’s all come in small steps, baby steps,” Chairman John Paul Darden told The Tri-Parish Times. “But look where it’s gotten us. We have a very nice facility here.”

The facility has grown to more than 320,000 square feet. It includes a hotel and an 2,000-seat events center.

Employment, meanwhile, has grown from 250 jobs to nearly 1,000, Darden noted.

Get the Story:
Casino turns 20 (The Tri-Parish Times 1/8)
Casino celebrates 20 years: Chitimacha tribal businesses growing (The Tri-Parish Times 12/19)