In Oklahoma and citizens of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes have reportedly approved various measures that will allow them to take advantage of a $10 million Bank of America loan in order to expand one of their five casinos.

According to a Tuesday story from Indianz.com citing an earlier report from The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal Tribune newspaper, members of the federally-recognized tribe attended a special November 23 meeting in which they agreed to temporarily abdicate some sovereign immunity so as to be able to ink the contract for the loan.

Ambitious aims:

Headquartered around the western Oklahoma community of Concho, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes reportedly secured the Bank of America loan in late-October and now wants to utilize this cash to bring a five-story hotel complete with some 80 rooms to its Lucky Star Casino venue in the small city of Watonga. This enlargement is to purportedly also encompass the construction of an on-site restaurant and a 300-person conference facility alongside the expansion of the property’s existing casino so as to make room for a further 400 slots.

Concerted competition:

Indianz.com reported that the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes is hoping to begin welcoming guests to its larger Watonga facility from next summer, which is a prospect Tribal Governor Reggie Wassana is said to have explained will allow his tribe to better compete with rival casino-operating groups such as the Choctaw Nation and the even larger Chickasaw Nation.

Wassana declared…

“This is for the good of the tribe. This is for this community that doesn’t always have jobs. This is to raise revenues so we can have it for our elders and our younger kids. This isn’t for me, this isn’t for any individual, it’s for the growth of the tribe and until we start playing with the big boys, as everybody says, with the Chickasaws and Choctaws and everybody else, then we need to start being more aggressive and get to doing something instead of just waiting for it.”