Lou Jacobs described the Southland Casino Hotel Complex in West Memphis, Arkansas, as “one of our most iconic properties.”
Jacobs is co-CEO/owner of Delaware North, Southland’s parent company. He was speaking in front of a crowd assembled for the ribbon cutting ceremony, which was held May 3rd, to open, according to the news release, the “newly expanded casino space and added amenities at Southland Casino Hotel, which now boasts 113,000 square feet of casino space, 2,400 gaming machines, as many as 50 live table games, sports betting, new dining and restaurant options, and 1,400-space covered parking garage.”
Whew.
I was stunned when I crossed the Mississippi River that morning and saw the hotel — which is slated to partially open in June and a targeted completion for later this year — looming in the distance. I was equally stunned when I went inside to be enveloped in the casino’s lights, color, and spaciousness.
I visited Southland over the years, but I will always remember a customer talking about Southland when I worked at Seessel’s grocery store on Perkins Extended in the late 1960s. I overheard the woman, who was a regular customer (she had a charge account), talk about zipping over to West Memphis to the Southland dog track. She also had a swimming pool, so I thought her summer days must have been lots of fun.
I wonder what that woman would think about Southland Casino Hotel Complex. She might decide to stay at the upcoming hotel and forget about hanging out at home by that maybe dinky pool.
She also could dine at the new Ignite Steakhouse, Sports Bar & Grill, The Fry House, and The Grind coffee shop at Southland. The bars include Ignite Steakhouse Bar and the Chairman’s Bar.
According to the press kit, Southland “has been a major racing venue for more than 60 years.”
During his remarks, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson remarked how Southland “changed the landscape” of West Memphis. I thought about seeing the hotel from my truck window earlier that day. My press kit says, “Construction is ongoing for the signature component of Southland’s expansion, a 20-story high-rise hotel tower that will feature 300 rooms, including 216 standard rooms, 72 corner suites and 12 penthouse suites on the top floor.”
The casino, according to the press kit, is “the latest milestone of the property’s ongoing $320 million expansion project that began in 2019.”
And, “The project has created an estimated 1,500 construction jobs and 400 additional permanent jobs for the new casino complex and hotel, bringing employment at Southland to about 1,200 jobs.”
Hutchison told the crowed that “this is an exciting day” for Arkansas.
I think West Memphis mayor Marco McClendon and everybody else at the ceremony could use any leftover ribbon to tie that statement into a big, bright, cheerful bow.
