This is more great news for Biloxi and Mississippi. Just another sign that the growth after Katrina is going to be amazing.
1.8-acre wetlands filled in already
By TOM WILEMON
BILOXI – Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. is shortening the brand name of its Biloxi property to The Isle with its $180 million expansion.
The expansion, when complete in May 2009, will put a casino immediately adjacent to the the property’s parking garage along with restaurants and bars. It will also allow ballroom and convention space – currently converted into a gambling floor – to go back to its intended use.
Casino executives unveiled the new logo and other details of the expansion in a workshop with the Biloxi City Council on Tuesday morning. The council unanimously approved the expansion plan in a follow-up meeting the same afternoon.
The council had tabled the request last week to learn more about the project.
Council members could not understand why the Isle had filled in 1.82 acres of the Mississippi Sound before the master-plan amendment came before them. They questioned whether there had been adequate notice of the plan to fill in the wetlands and said they did not know about it. The Isle got approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and a permit from the city planning department. But the council had not signed off.
The Department of Marine Resources held two public meetings on the project; both were reported in the Sun Herald. DMR commissioners tabled the casino’s request at their July 18 hearing and later approved the plans Aug. 15.
Some Biloxi residents and council members did not learn the wetlands would be filled until recently.
“If this is approved, how are we going to stop the other casinos from doing the same thing?” asked Cynthia McEldowney, an East Biloxi resident.
Another city resident, Mike Hutter, endorsed the project.
“I think the design is good,” he said. “I think it’s a good use of the property.”
Isle executives said they are committed to investing in Biloxi, but they could not provide a timetable for when they might do something with their property on the north side of U.S. 90. Although the Isle has done master planning for both sides of the highway, its focus has been to get its existing property redeveloped, said Greg Guida, a senior vice president with The Isle.
Source: Sun HeraldÂÂ
IP Casino & Resort, on behalf of the Engelstad Family Foundation, presented Biloxi with a check for $500,000 this afternoon at the City Council meeting.
Owen Nitz and Jeff Cooper, trustees for the Engelstad Family Foundation begun by the late Ralph Engelstad and his wife Betty, gave the city $500,000 to show the IP Casino’s commitment to rebuilding after the hurricane.
Nitz said he was following through on a promise he made shortly after the storm to help the city replace police vehicles and fire trucks. Mayor A.J. Holloway had asked the casino, owned by the Engelstad Family Foundation, to hold off until the city could determine how much FEMA would cover.
FEMA paid Blue Book value on damaged vehicles. Nitz said that while the money could be used for the emergency vehicles, there were no strings attached and the city could use the money for whatever it sees fit as it recovers from Hurricane Katrina.
Read more about this story in Wednesday’s editions of the Sun Herald.
Source: Tom Wilemon Sun Herald
BILOXI – Elvis Presley’s Army uniform, found on a mannequin floating in the Mississippi Sound, will be back on display when the Hard Rock Biloxi reopens on July 7.
B.B. King’s original guitar “Lucille” will return along with the guitars of Johnny Cash and KISS.
Some of the rock artifacts will be in pristine condition, but others will be part of a Katrina memorial collage. Everything else will be new and gleaming inside the casino resort, including a display in honor of James Brown.
People celebrated the casino’s pending comeback during this weekend’s Smokin’ the Sound, cheering a Hard Rock-sponsored power boat as it sped past emblazoned with “7-7-07.”
Check out Hard Rock Biloxi Rebuilding Pictures
The casino is counting on the lucky number for a little mojo. Besides being the opening date, the casino’s address is 777 Beach Blvd.
“It’s a big deal for us to get back open, but we do think it’s also a big deal for people on the Coast to see it back open,” said Joe Billhimer, the casino’s chief executive officer. “It keeps revitalization going. It shows that we and a lot of others believe in the revitalization of the Coast.”
The Hard Rock has had more than its share of challenges since Hurricane Katrina. The storm destroyed its gambling barge two days before the casino was scheduled to open. Bondholders who had financed the casino’s construction did not want to release insurance proceeds so contractors could be paid. Lawsuits were filed. New partners were brought in. The casino’s parent company, Premier Entertainment, filed for bankruptcy to gain access to the insurance money.
Throughout all those hurdles and with the legal disputes still being played out, the casino kept rebuilding. It’s an investment of $120 million that will provide jobs for more than 1,300 people.
“At the end of the day, we didn’t have a choice,” Billhimer said. “We had to do what we had to do. There’s a lot of other people on the Coast in the same situation.”
This party spot will be a place for folks to forget their troubles. All the restaurants (Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, Starbucks, Hard Rock Cafe, Ben & Jerry’s) are coming back. There’s at least eight bars throughout the resort. Hard Rock Live, the entertainment venue, has a long bar with 10 serving stations and two portable bars on the main floor. The VIP balcony has a bar in the middle and another one in an adjacent lounge.
Perhaps the nicest bar is the one on the top floor.
Katrina brought a storm surge of almost 23 feet to the casino site. The casino now sits atop a combination of concrete pilings and steel columns. The concrete pilings are driven 90 feet down. It has 12 inches of concrete slab on top of that to anchor steel columns rising up to the casino.
The casino will have 1,453 slots, 50 table games and six poker tables.
Source: Sun Herald
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