The new Choctaw Casino Resort was packed Tuesday night for the grand opening of the multi-million dollar hotel and casino, and Durant city leaders and Choctaw Nation leaders were ecstatic that the day had finally arrived.

“I think that 40 or 50 years ago folks in Branson, Missouri were thinking ‘Really? This is in Branson?’ Well now people are saying the same thing about Durant, Oklahoma,” said Durant Mayor Jerry Tomlinson.

“I think the Choctaw Nation has put Durant, Oklahoma not only on a national map, but an international map. On behalf of the city of Durant and the Choctaw Nation we hope that everyone will come out and have a great time.”

Executive Director of Gaming for the Nation Janie Dillard was also in high spirits for the grand opening.

“Right now, my emotions are flying like crazy,” she said. “We’ve been building up toward this day for 22 months and now the day is here, so I’m very excited.

“We’ve got a wealth of people here, and it took a wealth of people to make this project happen. I couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day and we’ve definitely been blessed. It’s just awesome.”

Choctaw Chief Greg Pyle was presented with a bronze statue by city leaders after his opening speech and prior to the ribbon cutting, and he echoed Mrs. Dillard’s sentiment for the day.

“It’s incredible, it’s even more beautiful then we thought,” he said. “We travelled all over the country, to about 15 states, to see what we wanted to bring in here.

“We took pictures and brought them back to our architects and told them, ‘This is what we want.’”

“When people go into the steakhouse, or in the Diamond Back Lounge they’ll see unique things that no other casino has. We just wanted the best.

“But what it really means to us is that Bryan County has the lowest unemployment in the entire state now. We’ve got 1,800 employees on site now and we’ve hired an additional 700 in the last 30 days, and it may even go higher than that later on.

“We’ll do the ribbon cutting, light a giant flame and have the fireworks after that, and we just want everybody to come and enjoy it.”