Leaders and dignitaries of the Ponca Tribe took part in a ceremonial groundbreaking on the Fancy Dance Casino near Enid, Oklahoma, on November 17, 2017. Photo: Ponca Tribe

Openings & Closings

Ponca Tribe still looking to debut casino before end of 2018

Thursday, August 23, 2018

The Ponca Tribe is still planning to get back into the Indian gaming industry before the end of the year.

A groundbreaking on the Fancy Dance Casino was originally expected in March. But the tribe just got around to announcing an architect and a civil engineer for the 12,000 square-foot facility near Enid, Oklahoma, according to news reports.

“Although the overall impact of the project will provide local stimuli for surrounding counties and cities, the long-term benefits to the citizens of the Ponca Tribe are the force driving the casino’s development,” Richard Lonsinger, the head of Ponca Enterprise Gaming, a tribal subsidiary, said in a press release, The Enid News reported.

A ceremonial groundbreaking took place last November. The tribe says construction will create 250 jobs while the casino itself will employ more than 50 people on a full-time basis.

“To build a better future for our citizens, we must continue to create these kinds of opportunities that improve the quality of life in northern Oklahoma,” Chairman Earl S. Howe III said in the tribe's January 2018 newsletter.

The tribe is working with Global Gaming Solutions, a subsidiary of the Chickasaw Nation, on the project. The Chickasaws operate the largest casino in the world as well as the most number of gaming facilities of any in the U.S.

The Fancy Dance Casino will be located near the intersection of two major interstates east of Enid.

The Ponca Tribe's two prior casinos were forced to close due to regulatory issues.