Published: July 01, 2008 11:35 pm      

Ground Zero comes to Pearl River Resort

The Pearl River Resort in Choctaw will take on a Delta flavor this fall with the addition of the Ground Zero Blues Club at the Golden Moon Hotel and Casino.

The deal, signed Tuesday, calls for construction to begin this month with completion planned for October.

Ground Zero Blues Club, with locations in Clarksdale and Memphis, Tenn., are owned by attorney and businessman Bill Luckett, Academy Award-winning actor and Mississippi resident Morgan Freeman, and Clarksdale native and Memphis entertainment executive Howard Stovall.

The club has been named within the "Top 100 Bars and Nightclubs in America" by Nightclub & Bar Magazine for three years in a row.

“We created the original club in Clarksdale to celebrate and sustain the rich heritage of Delta blues,” Freeman said in a statement Tuesday. “With the opening of the Club in Choctaw, Mississippi we are continuing to carry the torch that was lit by Robert Johnson that fateful night at the legendary crossroads.”

Beasley Denson, Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, said that when people think of Mississippi, they think of the birthplace of the blues.

“We are in the process of a rebirth here at the Pearl River Resort and bringing in an icon like the Ground Zero Blues Club is a real accomplishment. This is the first of many changes for our existing and new clientele,” Denson said.

Plans are to make the Ground Zero Blues Club the centerpiece of the Golden Moon Hotel and Casino, including a performance space to host nationally-recognized and regional acts offering up Delta Blues, Texas, Chicago and Blues Rock.

The club will bring its famous food with it, like fried catfish and the Highway 61 Burger.

The Pearl River Resort includes the Silver Star and Golden Moon hotels and casinos, nearly 5,000 slot machines, more than 100 gaming tables, 1,074 hotel rooms, 16 restaurants, European spa facilities, shopping, and live entertainment.

The Dancing Rabbit Golf Club includes two championship golf courses and the Geyser Falls Water Theme Park.