Poker News

Rebuilding Mississippi Gulf Coast
by Donna Blevins filed under Card Rooms on 2006-01-23 [Originally appeared in the January 23, 2006 issue of Poker Player]

Donna Blevins

Mississippi: 1990 - Legislature approves dockside gaming. Over the years, Mississippi’s economy and infrastructure benefited immensely as the gambling tax revenues flowed into state and local coffers. By 2005, the coast casinos generated tax revenues to the tune of $500,000 a day, according to the state Gaming Commission.

August 29, 2005: The heavy hand of Hurricane Katrina devastated most of the 12 coast casinos and the 13th that was just about to open. The least damaged of the Gulf casinos was the Imperial Palace, which reopened in December.

October 2005: In a special legislative session, Mississippi passed a new onshore gaming law allowing Gulf Coast casinos to move their casinos off the water and build a short distance inland - within 800 feet of the waterfront. Ironically, the proposal was made to the legislature by Mississippi’s governor who initially had opposed gambling during the 2003 elections. This about face by the governor dramatically illustrates the importance of the casinos’ tax revenue contributions. Treasure Bay Casino CEO and President Bernie Burkholder credits this new law for giving the industry a better chance of bouncing back after the storm. In a meeting of casino representatives in November, 2005, Burkholder said he was tired to chasing down their boat after every storm, “dragging it back to its moorings and gluing it back in place.”

With the ability to build on land, bigger casinos mean more tourists and more jobs. Pre-Katrina casino jobs are estimated at nearly 17,000. Within five years, authorities have estimated upwards of25,000 casino jobs. Historically, each casino job also creates two additional jobs. The first casino to reopen on December 22, 2005 was Imperial Palace. The general manager, Jon Lucas, reported that the gaming areas were expanded and all 1,088 guest rooms renovated.

The Beau Rivage will rebuild in the same location and has scheduled its planned opening date on the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Aug. 29, 2006. According to reports all other casinos with available land plan to rebuild in new ‘inland’ locations. Boomtown, a barge facility with limited surrounding land, does not have the ability to immediately rebuild a shore-based operation. They plan to refurbish their existing barge and move it to an adjacent property, most likely by May 2006. Eventually, they hope to build a land-based facility in the Biloxi area.

Boomtown’s sister property, Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, will move into temporary facilities according to Len DeAngelo, executive vice president of operations for the casinos’ parent company, Penn National Gaming Inc. Plans for a temporary Biloxi Casino Magic structure are still pending, but the facility will likely be operational within nine months. The Treasure Bay, which was one of the few actually boats, plans to build two-story, 70,000-square foot structure on the south portion of its existing hotel tower. They anticipate renovations will begin in the first quarter of 2006 and will take about six months to complete.

Executives of the President Casino, whose gambling barge was washed a half-mile down the beach during the storm and ended up on land, took a gamble after the storm that the onshore gaming bill would pass. They immediately began working on a shore-based facility, said Paul Alanis, chief executive officer of Silver Slipper, the casino’s new owner. Construction on the 95,000-square foot facility was slated to begin in December 2005, and the facility is expected to open within the year.

With corporate offices in temporary locations, it has been a challenge to compile verified information about the progress of the rebuilding. The most heartwarming quote I came across was from the publisher of one of the local newspapers who said that he would rather look at the disaster as an opportunity to create a planned 21st Century community with all the features and benefits that technology could provide. Remember, if you can’t raise, don’t call.

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