Until recently, three major events in this century defined the West Memphis area economy: a vote by the Arkansas Legislature in 2005, a flood along the Mississippi River in 2011, and a statewide vote of the people in 2018.

In 2005, what was then known as Southland Greyhound Park was on the verge of closing. The Arkansas Legislature voted that year to allow what it called "games of skill" at Southland and Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs. Southland's owner, Delaware North of Buffalo, N.Y., responded by spending $40 million on a facility to house electronic games. It also built an events center and added restaurants.

In 2011, a flood forced casinos at nearby Tunica, Miss., to close for months. Memphis residents began crossing the bridges to Southland rather than driving to Tunica. Most decided they liked gambling in Arkansas better than what they had experienced in Mississippi. Business at Southland has been booming ever since. In 2015, Delaware North invested another $38 million for an expansion of the gaming area and added a restaurant.

The biggest of the three events came in November 2018 when Arkansas voters approved a constitutional amendment to allow full-fledged casinos. Southland was one of four locations authorized, although only three (West Memphis, Pine Bluff, Hot Springs) were ultimately built. Shortly after that, Delaware North began work on a $320 million expansion that included a 20-story, 300-room hotel and a 113,000-square-foot casino.

I enjoy asking my fellow Arkansans this trivia question: Where is the tallest building in Arkansas outside Little Rock?

Most people say it's in the northwest Arkansas corridor. No one gets the correct answer, which is West Memphis. Yes, it's that 20-story hotel tower at Southland.

The final dog race in Arkansas occurred on New Year's Eve 2022. Southland officials had decided it was time to focus entirely on the casino. Other than a column I wrote, there was little fanfare. The sport went out with a whimper. There was a time, however, when Southland was the top greyhound track in the country. I was hired as a sportswriter at the Arkansas Democrat in 1981. We had a late-night routine in the sports department. When the fax machine began running after 11 p.m., staff members would begin barking like dogs.

The evening results were coming in from Southland on that fax machine. We knew to get them typed and into the paper before the final deadline, since there was intense reader interest in those results. The 1980s saw a number of celebrity greyhounds such as Keefer, who drew big crowds to Southland. There was reserved seating and an ornate area called the Kennel Club, which featured fine dining.

A greyhound track near the Mississippi River, known by locals as "under the bridge," was built in 1926. The formal name was Riverside Kennel Club. West Memphis was a wide-open city in those days with all-night juke joints, gambling establishments and houses of prostitution. Riverside was never rebuilt after a fire destroyed the........

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