Traveling north on U.S. Highway 75 just past the Texas-Oklahoma border, a new 21-story tower rises from the flatlands and comes into view well before the rest of the popular Choctaw Casino & Resort.

The 300,000-square-foot Sky Tower is the latest jewel of the Choctaw Nation’s flagship property and represents a $600 million expansion that progressed despite the pandemic’s debilitating economic fallout.

When it opens to the public on Aug. 6, it’ll offer gamblers and getaway visitors 1,000 new hotel rooms, six restaurants, 11 bars and a 3-acre, two-swimming pool area designed to appeal to adults with or without children in tow. The expansion also brings in 40 new poker tables and over 3,300 new slot machines, raising Choctaw’s total to 136 tables and over 7,200 machines.

And it’ll provide 1,200 jobs for Oklahomans and North Texans.