A grand opening for Choctaws Golden' vision

By By Buddy Bynum / editor
Oct. 5, 2002
CHOCTAW Standing on the earth-red stamped concrete at the far edge of an outdoor swimming area offers an unobstructed vision of the Golden Moon's signature architectural element.
The moon framed in triangular panels of glass and steel sits high atop the newest star in the constellation being built here by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
And, even as the Choctaw tribe on Friday officially opened its $177 million crown jewel, the Golden Moon Hotel &Casino at Pearl River Resort, its chief visionary's mind is on the future.
Chief Phillip Martin has taken an undeveloped piece of ground in the clay hills of rural Neshoba County and transformed it into a bustling resort destination, a center of jobs and entertainment.
The Golden Moon is but the latest project in tribe enterprises that boast an annual payroll of $192.1 million for nearly 15,000 employees.
One of them may, depending on the economy, be a third casino and hotel that would join the Silver Star and Golden Moon.
Martin said the Choctaw Indians have created an economic engine that generates steady jobs, even in a down economy, beginning with their first automotive wire harness venture in 1979 for Chevy S-10 pickup trucks. Illustrating how lower tech jobs are moving south, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians currently employs some 1,500 workers at a plant in Mexico.
Other developments here include:
Dancing Rabbit Golf Club, already an internationally acclaimed facility.
Lake Pushmataha, a 285-acre project that will include a 9-acre lagoon complete with white sand beach and freshwater snorkeling. It will eventually feature a 10,000-seat amphitheater and 6-story hotel with 200 rooms.
Geyser Falls Water Park, which opened this summer, a themed waterpark with a dozen waterslides, wave pool and continuous river designed by some of the same people who created Disney's Typhoon Lagoon and Epcot Center in Florida.
Star-tacular, a bedazzling laser, light and water show.
Hollywood Star Cars, a collection of 25 famous cars of films and television in a Hollywood setting.
On the drawing board is a music hall of fame.
But all eyes Friday were on the Golden Moon and the 28-floor hotel's 571 rooms were booked solid with guests, including some evacuees chased from their Louisiana homes by Hurricane Lili. The hotel also includes 112 suites and 32 VIP luxury suites.
The casino has 90,000 square feet of gaming space with 1,750 slot machines and 54 table games.
Five restaurants cater to tastes from a quick sandwich to steaks, seafood, sushi and fine wines. Five lounges offer entertainment venues
The Golden Moon is an 843,000 square foot luxury hotel whose design and construction brought together some of the world's most imaginative minds.
Hundreds of ideas were tossed around over a period of about four years, said Sergio Bakas, the chief architect for the Miami-based firm, Arquitectonica, that designed the Golden Moon. Those ideas led to sketches and line drawings and, finally, real plans that Philadelphia-based W.G. Yates and Sons Construction Company used to build the project, completing it ahead of schedule and under budget.
Bakas seemed well pleased with the results, which incorporate water, flowing geometrical design and other eyecatchers such as a huge sphere of solid marble that floats in a pool of water in the hotel lobby area.
At the press conference, the operative word seemed to be "wow."
The Golden Moon's interior design utilizes traditional, earthy colors and tones that hold true to Native American origins.