Palace table games will double
BILOXI - Palace doubling table games, adding amenities
The Palace Casino will start construction this summer on a 20,000-square-foot expansion so it can double the number of table games, bring in new slot machines, add an entertainment venue and increase restaurant offerings.
The Palace, a boutique casino before Hurricane Katrina, reopened with fewer amenities after the storm. With its casino barge destroyed, the Palace moved its gambling space into the lobby of its hotel when it became the third casino to be back in business in December 2005. Cafes and gifts shops were also lost to make room for the gambling floor.
Now casino owner Robert Low wants to reestablish the Palace’s quality brand.
“Our owner, Robert Low, has great confidence in the market and Biloxi,” said Keith Crosby, the casino’s general manager. “All our associates are anxious to get started as soon as possible.”
The two-story expansion will include a centrally located poker bar and entertainment stage, an upscale cocktail lounge, 14 additional table games and a high limit slot and table salon. With the expansion, the casino will have a total of 1,100 slots.
The Palace Cafe and Bakery will return. Live cooking stations will be added to the Palace Buffet.
“This will put us extremely close to where we were pre-storm,” Crosby said.
Although exact numbers have yet to be determined, 30 to 50 jobs should be created with the expansion.
Low has already invested in The Preserve, a new golf course in Jackson County affiliated with the casino.
The casino also plans to have storm debris removed within 30 days and have its marina back in service by this summer. Its hotel was one of only two on the Coast to receive a four-diamond rating from the American Automobile Association. The other hotel that received the rating is Beau Rivage.
The Palace, one of three casinos on Point Cadet, employs about 525 people.
Source: Sun Herald - TOM WILEMON