The Hard Rock gambling barge in Biloxi was due to be launched the week that Hurricane Katrina destroyed it and Penn National Gaming has been under orders from the Illinois Gaming Board to sell its Alton riverboat, a decision now reversed by the Board. Recent moves mean that both companies have breathing space to plan for the future.

In Biloxi Premier Entertainment, the parent company of the Hard Rock Casino, has been waiting months to start work on reconstruction. Unfortunately a dispute with the financiers, US Bank National Association who have withheld insurance money, has led to a lawsuit with a jury trial set for October. In the meantime at least the bank has released funds to secure the hotel property against the warm, damp Mississippi summer. The structurally sound hotel will have US$1.35 million spent on repairs and measures to prevent deterioration.

Premier plans to open a temporary casino in its live performance venue and then build a raised casino where the barge was located. It is estimated that the cost to rebuild the casino will be up to US$85 million but indications from the reopened casinos in Biloxi are that gambling revenue is good and that tourism will recover once the infrastructure of the Gulf Coast is repaired.

Penn National, since buying Argosy holdings last year, currently owns three casinos in Illinois and had been told to sell the Argosy Casino in Alton by 2007. The company has argued that it has been unable to secure a fair price as buyers were aware of the order. Illinois Gaming Board has now given Penn National two years to sell its Empress Casino in Joliet, allowing it to keep the Alton and Aurora operations. The company can now make provisions for upgrading the Alton property. (E-03.07.06)

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