The quality and attention to detail that set FireLake Grand Casino apart as a entertainment destination shone brightly as reporters and photographers from Oklahoma City and Shawnee got a first look at the facility during a "Hard Hat Tour" today (Thursday, September 28).

Construction workers are busily putting the finishing touches on the 190,000 square foot facility, in advance of an early October "soft opening." The Grand’s Grand Opening, featuring two concerts by fast-rising country star Gretchen Wilson, is scheduled for Monday, October 23 through Saturday, October 28.

Wilson will perform at 7:00 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday in FLG’s intimate, 1,700-seat Events Center.

Brad Peltier, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s marketing director for the FireLake enterprises, talked about the attention to quality at FireLake Grand Casino. "What will set up apart is that, (in) our facility, there has been attention to detail in every part…the service, the building, or the processes we go through that people never even see," he said.

 
   (Attention to detail and quality are readily apparent at the Grand Stand Sports Grille.)

"There has been great attention and effort to make it the best it can be and the best in the region, not just the best in the state," Peltier added. "We set out to build the best casino luxury destination in the Midwest, and we feel like we are going to do that."

The Events Center will be host to more than music concerts, according to FireLake Grand officials. Peltier and Steve Degraffenreid, FLG manager, said, "We’re a satellite casino for the World Poker Tour. We’ll people for a seat on the World Poker Tour that somebody will win here. Some of the stars of the World Poker Tour will compete here. People playing (at FLG) may play the best in the world."

FireLake Grand Casino will offer a Players Club amenity that allows patrons to accrue points toward bonuses. "They sign up and get a card," Peltier explained. "When they play, they present their (Players Club) card, or put it in the machine. It tracks what they spend, and we reward them based off that number."

Peltier told reporters that the Citizen Potawatomi Nation anticipates heating and cooling costs of as much as 85 percent through use of geo-thermal technology at FireLake Grand. "It actually cools by (routing coolant-carrying tubes) underneath the ground, where the temperature is about 52 degrees," he said. "Further than that, we have copper coils of tubing in this pond out front, and it actually cools."

The FireLake Grand experience begins with fine architectural details, including rich wood appointments, a breath-taking multi-level gaming floor, and impressive columns throughout. It continues through the four restaurants in the facility: Embers Steakhouse; the Grand Stand Sports Grille; the Roasted Bean, a specialty coffee bar; and Oklahoma’s largest buffet.

   (FireLake Grand Casino will feature Oklahoma's largest buffet.)

Gretchen Wilson is touring to support "All Jacked Up," her second album. The erstwhile small-town Illinois bartender rocketed to stardom with her debut album, Here for the Party, which featured the huge hit "Redneck Woman."

She was raised in a trailer park in Pocahontas, Illinois, by a single mother, who was 16 when Wilson was born.Wilson grew up in poverty, living in a succession of trailer parks as her mother struggled to pay the rent by working as a waitress at a diner. She left school during the ninth grade. At age 14, Wilson worked as a cook and bartender and was singing for tips at a place called Big O’s in rfural Illinois. The night she won her CMA Horizon Award, she stated that she felt bad for taking home such a wonderful gift on her now-five-year-old daughter, Grace Frances Penner’s, birthday.

Wilson is nominated for the Country Music Association’s "Vocalist of the Year" and its "Collaboration of the Year" awards. The latter nomination is for her duet with Merle Haggard on the song "Politically Uncorrect" from All Jacked Up. The CMA awards show is set for November 6 on ABC-TV.