Project Index

River Spirit Casino, located on the Arkansas River, captures elements that are significant to the Muscogee Creek Nation’s culture: farming, community, water, air, sky. Along the front facade, specialty light poles guide guests to the entry. 

Inside the front entry, guests are greeted with a beaded curtain, highlighted to sparkle and shimmer like rain. Large cloud shaped elements, using LEDs, mimic the sky over the Nation and draw the guest into the casino. The lounge has a bubbly glow from various sized pendants suspended at random heights. Bordering the gaming area, vertical tree elements are internally illuminated, giving the suggestion of native trees lining the side of the river bank. 

Schuler Shook collaborated with the design team to provide integrated architectural lighting that reinforces the tribal themes and the concept of the casino.

River Spirit Casino and Resort underwent a major expansion project. The massive project included a Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Casino and Restaurant, Paradise Cove Theatre (which is a 2,500+ seat showroom for live entertainment and sporting events), a 22-story 500-key upscale hotel tower, a world-class spa, convention and meeting center, and new restaurants. 

Schuler Shook provided theatre planning services that included performance and architectural lighting control systems design, theatre seating including the VIP suites with open ​“Party Decks”. Seating is flexible to accommodate arena-style seating for MMA events. Schuler Shook also provided the rigging control system for in-house and touring production hoist control and conjunction with advisory services for rigging support steel and for catwalk layouts. 

Architectural lighting design services included house lighting for the theatre and VIP area, main casino lobby and floor, guest rooms and suites, fitness center, hotel corridors, pool bar, ballroom and associated pre-function space and meeting rooms.