POCOLA, Okla. — Today, with the opening of its new casino floor, the Choctaw Casino Hotel, takes another step toward being a full-service operation.

The new 62,400 square feet of gambling space at Pocola, near Fort Smith, is filled with 1,180 slot machines, a new high-limit area, a restaurant and a 12-table pit that will feature craps, along with blackjack, three-card poker and roulette table games.

The casino space is part of the Choctaw Nation’s $60 million renovation and expansion at the site. The tribe is adding a seven-story, 118 room hotel - with 10 standard suites and two luxury suites - adjoining the newcasino floor, along with a 600-space covered parking deck.

Three other American Indian tribes operate casino-hotels along Oklahoma’s eastern border. The Eastern Shawnee of Oklahoma in September opened the Indigo Sky Casino in Wyandotte; while the Quapaw Nation operates the Downstream Casino Resort in Quapaw, which has a 152-room expansion under way; and the Cherokee Nation operates the Cherokee Casino in West Siloam Springs.

In 2010, there were 113 gambling facilities in Oklahoma operated by 33 tribes, according to the 2010 Casino City’s Indian Gaming Industry Report published by Casino City Press, a company that offers directories and otherinformation about casinos and the gambling industry. The total includes smaller facilities like smoke shops and travel centers that offer gambling.

Revenue generated from Indian gambling operations in Oklahoma was up 4 percent to $3.23 billion in 2010 from a year earlier, according to the report. Nongambling revenue from Oklahoma’s Indian gambling operations was $457.4 million, a 3.9 percent increase.

Oklahoma ranked second behind California in tribal gambling revenue by state for 2010. The two states generated 38 percent of the nation’s Indian gambling revenue for the year, with California’s take slightly more than dou-ble that of Oklahoma.

At the Choctaw operation, the old casino space closed Friday night and will reopen in May, fully remodeled, along with two restaurants and a dedicated entertainment venue, to coincide with the hotel’s opening.

When the expansion is completed, there will be a total of 145,000 square feet of gambling, entertainment, dining and lodging space and 2,200 slot machines.

This is the third expansion on the site since the casino opened in 1994.

Marketing Manager Barrett DeFay said the renovation and expansion project moves the gambling operation to the next level, making it more attractive to a broader variety of potential customers.

Many of those customers are expected to come from nearby Arkansas, since the casino nearly kisses the border of Fort Smith.

“We’re proud to finally open the doors of this beautiful new casino floor, and we know this multimillion-dollar project will benefit our guests, as well as Southeast Oklahoma and the River Valley region,” Gregory E. Pyle, chief of the Choctaw Nationof Oklahoma, said in a statement.

The new casino floor will add 52 new jobs and the full expansion is expected to create 300 more, bringing the total number of employees at the site to more than 850.

The tribes of Oklahoma contributed $10.8 billion to the state’s economy in 2010, according to a first-time study by the Steven C. Agee Economic Research and Policy Institute at Oklahoma City University, released in October.

Overall, tribal activities support 87,174 jobs in the state and $2.5 billion in state income, when various economic multipliers are taken into account, according to the report.

The Choctaw Nation operates eight casinos in the eastern part of the state, including the Pocola operation. The nation added a new casino in Stigler in August and operates another casino-hotel in Durant.

DeFay said the new casino and hotel amenities give many more reward options to offer VIP members, expanding the value of the service.

Tulsa-based Manhattan Construction is the builder on the Choctaw project. It was designed by Denver-based Worth Group Architects.

The new casino-hotel theme and interior design was developed by Las Vegasbased E-gads LLC. Clients of the Nevada company come primarily from the gambling industry and include Harrah’s Entertainment, Bally Gaming and The Venetian Resort.

“Smoking” Joe McWilliams, the vice president of design and marketing for Egads described the casino as having an earthy quality, using trees, branches and leaves as key design elements.

The company built sevenmolded ponies that appear to splash through a fountain located at the casino’s main entrance.

The horses feature prominently in Choctaw culture and history.

The new facility also includes the Seven Ponies restaurant, which will serve breakfast and lunch and then in the evening be transformed into a more formal dining steakhouse.

The second phase of the renovation will include a Gilley’s restaurant, a honky-tonk and a sports bar, Trophy’s Bar and Grill. The plans also include an event room that can seat 500 for parties, banquets or concerts.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/01/2012