The plans include a casino and 20-story hotel, which will make it the tallest structure in Crittenden County. The hotel will have 300 rooms, including 216 standard rooms, 72 corner suites and 12 penthouse suites.
When completed, the facility will have 2,500 electronic gambling machines and 60 card and roulette tables. New restaurants will be added, and the current buffet restaurant will be expanded. Parking will also expand with the addition of a covered garage with 1,250 spaces.
The project is being directed by Mississippi-based Roy Anderson Corp Contractors, a subsidiary of Tutor Perini Corporation. The expansion will create 400 jobs, increasing total employment at Southland to 1,200.
The project is slated to be completed by January 2021.
Delaware North currently owns Southland after purchasing the business in the 1970s.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson called the project “the largest investment in the tourism industry in the history of Arkansas, as far as I know.”