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The President Casino Mississippi built by Leevac Riverboat Gaming On The Mississippi Operators Plan New Floating Casinos In Fast-Paced Market By John R. Snyder Life on the Mississippi is changing for the bettor. Since Iowa first launched riverboat gaming on April 1,1991, four other states along the Mississippi have enacted similar legislation. Missouri became the latest state to legalize riverboat gaming on the Mississippi River, when voters over- whelmingly approved a statewide proposition on election day. In accordance with the new law, local municipalities or counties also have to approve gambling in sepa- rate proactive local referendums. St. Louis, St. Charles, Ste. Genevieve, Jefferson City, Parkville, Jefferson county and Buchanan county did so on the same day. Ironically, Hannibal, Mo., the hometown of Mark Twain, whose name is synonymous with the Mis- sissippi riverboat era, was the only community to reject riverboat gam- ing in the recent Missouri vote. Exhibit 1 shows highlights of the current riverboat gaming legislation in Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Missis- sippi and Missouri. There are a number of groups actively lobbying for legalization of riverboat gaming in Connecticut, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. With five states already on-line and others seriously considering le- galization, shipbuilders, naval ar- chitects, outfitters and suppliers are gearing up for a lucrative, multimillion-dollar market which should be sustained for at least the next five years. Depending on their size and out- fitting, the average construction cost of a new riverboat casino could be $6 million to $12 million, with pro- posed gaming boats in Louisiana more than $35 million. Perhaps the only exceptions to this gage are the casino vessels that will operate in Mississippi, a mar- ket that will be predominately com- posed of refitted, existing barges. There are currently 14 riverboat casinos operating, five each in Illi- nois and Mississippi and four in Iowa. Exhibit 2 provides details on riverboat casinos in operation, while Exhibit 3 shows new construction. "It's going to be a very good mar- ket over the next few years," said Charles Burrell, whose company, Jennings, La.-based Leevac Ship- yards, Inc., is a major player in the construction of casino boats. "And with the recent passage of Missouri gaming, a good market just got a little bit brighter." Leevac is currently in discussions with several parties interested in riverboat casinos. The yard's most recent delivery was the DeJong & Lebet-designed President Riverboat Casino Missis- sippi, which is one of the few self- propelled vessels currently in op- eration in Mississippi. Fully outfitted with sophisticated surveillance and gaming equipment, the President Riverboat Casino Mis- sissippi had a reported price tag of $17 million. Admiral To See Action As A Casino Boat The approval of riverboat gaming in Missouri will have a dramatic impact on the St. Louis riverfront. Under special provisions written into the Missouri law, permanently moored vessels within a certain dis- tance of the Eads Bridge will be allowed to offer gaming. This provision, especially writ- ten in for the idled Admiral, owned Exhibit 3 Major Riverboat Casinos On Order or Under Construction (as of December 1, 1992) VESSEL CAPACITY OPERATOR HOMEPORT BUILDER EST. DELIVERY Casino Queen 4000 Arch Paddle Boat Co. E.St. Louis. IL Patti Shipyard Spr. '93 Alton Belle Casino II 1400 Alton Riverboat Gambling Alton, IL Atlantic Marine 5/93 City of Lights 1 600 Pratt Industries Aurora, IL Garbe Iron Works Spr. '93 City of Ughts II 600 Pratt Industries Aurora, IL Garbe Iron Works Spr. 93 Grand Casino Gulf port N/A Grand Casino, Inc. Gulfport, MS Service Marine Industries N/A Promus II 1200 Des Plaines Development Joliet, IL Service Marine Industries 8/93 Players Riverboat Casino 1200 S. III. Riverboat Casino Metropolis, IL Leevac Shipyards 2/93 Promus 1 1200 Des Plaines Development Joliet, IL Service Marine Industries 1/93 January, 1993 33
