The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians hope the economy will improve in time for the opening of a $633 million expansion of the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Hotel in North Carolina.
The tribe will double the size of the casino floor and add 532 rooms to the hotel. The project also calls for a 3,000-seat events center, a spa, restaurants and retail stores.
The tribe secured financing for the expansion before the recession hit. Business at the casino has dropped 15 percent and the tribe has laid off about 100 people.
“As long as it comes back in 2012 we’ll be fine,” general manager Darold Londo told The Charlotte Observer. “We’ve got a pretty conservative business model.”
Get the Story:Cherokee to add resort to N.C. casino (The Charlotte Observer 2/16)