Cherokee Nation leaders hosted a topping out ceremony Monday for a new hotel and casino complex.
"It's a ritual that we do. We put a cedar tree and the flags and the last piece of steel that goes to the highest point of the building," Principal Chief Bill John Baker said. "We have a ceremony and sign the beam and set that last beam in place."
"They're almost to the point where most of their work's going to be indoors, and a couple more months and ought to have that think whipped out and ready to put 100 more full-time people to work."
Baker said the ceremony dates back nearly 100 years to Native American steel workers building skyscrapers in New York.
The new hotel and casino should open in a few months and is in Roland off Interstate 40, about seven miles west of Fort Smith, Arkansas.
The Cherokee Casino and Hotel Roland is a 170,000 square foot facility, including 120 hotel rooms and convention space. It upgrades the tribe’s property in Roland, which opened as a bingo hall a quarter century ago.
"Although some gaming around the country is starting to taper off, our gaming dollars continue to rise, and we saw that it was a good business decision to be made," Baker said.
Roland is less than 10 minutes from Fort Smith and is one of eight Cherokee casinos in the region.
