The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma debuted the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa on Monday. The casino is the first with the Hard Rock name in the Midwest. "We at Cherokee Nation wanted an international brand so we could tell our story and share our hospitality and entertainment experience with the entire world," Chief Chad Smith at the grand opening ceremony, The Tulsa World reported. The tribe spent $155 million to revamp the Catoosa casino. The facility features five restaurants, five nightclubs and entertainment venues, a 125,000 square-foot gaming floor, 350 hotel rooms and suites, 35,000 square-feet of convention space and the Cherokee Hills golf course. A 2,500-seat event center is in the works and due to be completed in July 2010. "We've just raised the bar in the third-largest gaming market in the United States — Oklahoma," said Cherokee Nation Entertainment CEO David Stewart. Get the Story:
Festivities kick off new Hard Rock venues (The Tulsa World 8/4)
Celebrating A Hard Rock Casino In Oklahoma (News on 6 8/3)
Midwest’s first Hard Rock resort debuts in Catoosa (AP 8/4)