#9: Choctaws break ground on second casino
By Staff
Jan. 1, 2001
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians hosted a day-long, star-studded ground-breaking ceremony Nov. 16 for the Pearl River Resort Golden Moon Hotel and Casino.
The Golden Moon is scheduled to be complete in 2002. The 840,000-square-foot casino designed by Arquitectonica architects will include 572 rooms, 90,000 square feet of casino space, seven restaurants, several fountains and 8,000 square feet of convention space.
An 80-foot-in-diameter moon perched 310 feet above ground on top of the casino will house one of the restaurants, a bar and observation deck. A skywalk will join the Golden Moon to the Silver Star.
When complete, the $750 million Pearl River Resort will also have a 280-acre lake for boating, fishing and skiing, a permanent exhibit famous Hollywood cars, an exposition and cultural museum, a laser water show by Miziker Entertainment Group whose producers have done Walt Disney World and Super Bowl half-time shows a seven-acre water park, fairgrounds, a fitness center, a 10,000-seat amphitheater and sports complex, a 200-room lakefront hotel and nearby merchant town center.
Many of the day's festivities were held at the Silver Star Resort and Casino. Choctaw Chief Phillip Martin and Astronaut Buzz Aldrin were there for the celebration, as were Epicurean World Master Chef Tracy Castleman, Arquitectonica designer Bernardo Fort-Brescia and Miziker Entertainment's Emmy-winning producer Robert Miziker.
