Beau Rivage took quite a hit from Hurricane Katrina. But the casino resort may have softened the blow for other buildings in downtown Biloxi.
The high rise hotel proved to be a good neighbor during the storm.
“I think without the Beau Rivage, we’d have all been gone,” said Randy Barras, who owns a salon just a block north of the casino.
He credits the nearby casino for saving his business. The 1904 building did lose its roof in Katrina, but Beau Rivage kept the storm surge at bay.
“I think the biggest impact was probably hit by it. So, I guess it took the biggest hit and then from there it just sort of washed the rest of it out and by the time it got to us, thank goodness it stopped,” he said.
The storm surge that slammed into the casino barge was buffered by the hotel tower. A hurricane video making the rounds on the Internet , shows the wind and water which wrapped around Beau Rivage. Read the rest of this entry »
WAVELAND – Developers of the Silver Slipper Casino are proposing a $100,000 donation for land conservation and the restoration of adjacent wetlands if the state will allow an acre along the shoreline to be filled in.Paul Alanis, the chief executive officer of Silver Slipper Casino Venture, outlined the plans at a public hearing tonight. The Commission on Marine Resources may vote on the casino’s request at its Feb. 21 meeting. The Silver Slipper is leasing 25 acres, Alanis said, but only five of those acres are uplands.
The fill work north of the mouth of Bayou Caddy is necessary to reroute a public road, he said.
The footprint of the casino project, which previously would have gone on pilings above the water, was changed after the Legislature amended state law to allow on-shore gambling. The casino is now being built on top of Shipyard Road so it can be within 800 feet of the water, a legal requirement.
Source: SunHeraldÂÂ
There’s one overriding question that east Biloxi developers like Keith Crosby would like to have answered.
“When’s that bridge going to be finished?” the Palace Casino general manager asked.
That bridge is the damaged Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge. Katrina tore apart the cement structure. Five months later, remnants of it still sit in the bay, because nobody can decide whether a replacement bridge should include a draw.
That hasn’t stopped companies like the Palace from making some immediate improvements to their properties. As for its more long term master plan, “It’s difficult as hell right now to figure out,” Crosby said. Read the rest of this entry »
