CARTER LAKE, Iowa — The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska took a step toward fulfilling a longstanding goal Monday as construction began to expand the tribe’s Prairie Flower Casino in Carter Lake, Iowa.
Rebecca Sullivan, interim tribal council chairwoman, called the groundbreaking on the expansion one part of “a day of celebration.†The groundbreaking on the 60,000-square-foot addition coincides with the 32nd anniversary of the Ponca Restoration Act that restored the federal government’s recognition of the tribe.
The groundbreaking also comes a day shy of the fourth anniversary of the original casino opening. The addition will increase the casino’s footprint to more than 70,000 square feet.
Sullivan said the tribe planned to expand the casino even before it opened the existing building.
“We’ve always had it in our minds to go forward with a bigger casino,†she said.
People are also reading…
Projected to be completed in summer 2024, the casino addition will add 600 machines, including slots and electronic table games. It also will have an area where people can bet on sports and enjoy a gastro pub. The expansion also will offer retail space and dining options intended to offer what Sullivan said will be a “food court-type of atmosphere.â€
Sullivan declined to disclose costs for the casino’s expansion. She did say the expansion will add 200 new jobs on top of the 100 people already employed at the casino.
The groundbreaking on the Prairie Flower expansion comes more than a year after a federal appeals court unanimously ruled in favor of the tribe. The court ruled the tribe had a right to build and operate a casino on the land that the plaintiffs — the states of Nebraska and Iowa and the city of Council Bluffs — had argued did not qualify as restored lands.
The casino is located just off Abbott Drive southwest of Omaha's Eppley Airfield.
Prairie Flower Casino will encounter more competition now that casino gambling is legal in Nebraska. WarHorse Casino earlier this fall, and its parent company, Ho-Chunk Inc., on a casino, racing and entertainment complex at Horsemen’s Park in Omaha.
Sullivan acknowledged that the evolving casino landscape in Nebraska “will have some impact†on the Iowa casino but said those changes did not influence the Ponca Tribe’s plans.
“From Day One, we were planning on expanding,†she said. “We had no influence by outside entities.â€