Jimmy Buffett was in Tulsa on Saturday to perform a show at the grand opening of his Margaritaville Casino at River Spirit Resort Casino. Tulsa World has more:

“To the city of Tulsa, it’s great to not only play here, but to be part of the city,” Buffett said to the nearly 3,000 Parrotheads in attendance at the new River Spirit Casino Resort venue, Paradise Cove.

Saturday served as a grand opening party for the Margaritaville addition to the River Spirit Casino Resort, a feather in the cap of a $365 million renovation that has opened in stages over the last six months, starting with the Margaritaville casino and restaurant, then the hotel tower and music venue.

“One year ago today, we stood by as we laid the top beam on the hotel,” said Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief James Floyd. “We have a lot to celebrate today.”

And there was plenty of celebrating going on Saturday afternoon at the concert pre-party. The facility’s new ballroom was transformed into a tropical vision, with brightly colored flowers and beach balls, colorful drinks and colorful people itching to party, along with city and community leaders including Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum, Tulsa Regional Chamber CEO Mike Neal and Muscogee (Creek) Nation, city and county officials.

Read more here.

photo Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World

Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Casino and restaurant opened its doors on Thursday in Tulsa, and officials said that Jimmy will play at the new theater in late January:

Jimmy Buffett is tentatively set to play the new showroom at Margaritaville on Jan. 28, Creek Nation officials announced Thursday during the grand opening for the casino.

The resort will feature a 2,500-seat concert venue.

The new 50,000-square-foot Margaritaville casino is the first part of the resort to open. A 483-room hotel hotel will open inl December; the theater and the outdoor area next to the river will be ready in 2017.

Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Casino at River Spirit in Tulsa, Oklahoma held a topping off ceremony last Friday as the final floor of the tower was put in place.

In a topping-off ceremony, a native tree is often chosen by builders of tall buildings to be placed at the top of a building in a show of respect for the land. In this case, nothing could have been more appropriate than a palm tree riding a steal beam to the 27th and final floor marking the completion of the frame of the new addition to the complex.

The expansion and new home of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville casino and restaurant is by far the nation’s biggest developmental undertaking in the area, and with the addition of 1.2 million square feet to the tune of $365 million and 483 hotel rooms, it tops every other facility in the area. One-thousand more full-time jobs will also be added. Margaritaville’s CEO John Cohlan said the local development was one of the better-executed Margaritaville projects seen by the company, and the opening might even drew Jimmy Buffet. Officials also announced that by Labor Day weekend everything except the hotel tower will be completed, according to Tulsa World.

A two-level Margaritaville restaurant, bar with two outdoor decks that overlook the Arkansas River, retail outlet with a stage for live music, a seaplane and an erupting volcano that spews lava into a giant blender, will be the centerpiece of the casino-level addition. A tropical-themed pool deck will adorn the riverfront complete with cabanas, fire pits, palm trees and multiple bars, one with swim-up seating. Other food venues include a Margaritaville Coffee Shop and still in discussions, a Mickey Mantle’s Steakhouse. Fifty-thousand square feet of gaming space will also be included in the casino-level addition, which will be space for 27 table games, 850 gaming machines, and entertainment venue capable of accommodating more than 2,500 seated guests, and 30,000 square feet of meeting and event space.

Read more here.

Back in July it was announced that the Margaritaville Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi would close on or before September 19th. On Monday night, the doors closed.

Allen Godfrey, executive director of the Gaming Commission, told the Sun Herald that officials from the casino notified them they would close at 10 p.m.

“We were made aware of this and we’ll have agents on standby,” he said.

A train clacked by around 9:30 p.m., its whistle a last call for the casino that opened in 2012 with a concert by Jimmy Buffett.

A couple moving from Michigan to Nevada pulled in and when they learned it was the final hour, hurried inside to buy a souvenir T-shirt.

A few employees carried items to their cars, while others not scheduled to work headed in one last time.

“We’ve been here since Day 1,” a woman said while another said, “We’re just saying goodbye to our co-workers.”

The third woman said, “it’s sad but …” and shrugged her shoulders.

The employee parking lot was empty and the staff was parked in the regular lot.

“The employees are going to be paid through the 19th as promised,” said Michael Cavanaugh, attorney for MVB Holdings, which operated the casino.

Cavanaugh said the company was unable to come to an agreement with the landlords to build a hotel on the property, which the management said is needed for the casino to stay in business.

“Everybody wants a better outcome,” Cavanaugh said, “everybody but the landlords.”

The landowners won’t be able to step in and run the casino, he said. “When we close down the license is history.”

Gaming Commission regulations now require a casino to have a 200-room hotel and other amenities before they open.

(hat tip Tony)

Barely two years after it opened, the Margaritaville Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi will close in the next two months.

The casino will own the dubious title of first casino to close on the Gulf Coast since Katrina nine years ago.

Management met with employees Monday morning and gave them WARN notices, required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, telling them of the impending closing of the casino on or before Sept. 19.

Employees were told not to speak to reporters and said on the way out of the meeting, “It could cost us.”

It will be business as usual, said Michael Cavanaugh, attorney for the owners. But business dropped following the announcement that Harrah’s Casino in Tunica was closing in June, and Cavanaugh said Margaritaville could close in a couple of weeks if the same happens in Biloxi.

Cavanaugh said MVB Holding LLC, the company that operates the casino, was unable to come to an agreement with its landlord and therefore could not secure financing to build a hotel.

Cavanaugh also admitted that the casino is losing money, but declined to say how much.

There were lots of high hopes for the casino that opened May 22, 2012, with a concert by Buffett, attended by thousands and broadcast live worldwide on Margaritaville Radio.

Read more at The Sun Herald.

Only three weeks ago, it was announced that Jimmy Buffett’s at The Beachcomber restaurant in Honolulu is closing.