Wednesday, March 10, 2010
President Casino
Pinnacle Entertainment has agreed to surrender its license for the President Casino in downtown St. Louis, meaning it will be close by July 1.
The gaming company, based in Las Vegas, reached a settlement agreement with the Missouri Gaming Commission that was announced Wednesday. Pinnacle officials met with the Gaming Commission at their meeting in St. Louis.
LeAnn McCarthy, a spokesperson for the commission, said the agreement calls for the Pinnacle to turn over the license and the commission to rescind its revocation order in approved in January. Pinnacle, which manages a number of casinos in the St. Louis area, will close the casino by July 1.
“The real reason is that we’ve played out the process,” said Mac Bradley, a spokesperson for Pinnacle Entertainment. “It was just time to move on.”
Bradley said Pinnacle has other successful casinos in the area, including Lumiere Place and the River City Casino in south St. Louis County that opened on March 4.
Bradley said President Casino remains open and not date has been set for closing.
“As our corporate counsel said at the meeting, we’re in the business of cooperating with states not fighting with them,” Bradley said.
The Gaming Commission voted 4-0 on Jan. 27 to revoke the license for the President Casino moored on the Mississippi River at Laclede’s Landing.
A list of concerns were listed by the commission, many of which were linked to dropping revenues since the opening of the nearby Lumiere Place in 2006. The commission also had concerns about the aging riverboat Admiral that the President Casino utilizes is in poor shape.
Revenues dropped from $67.2 million and $2.8 million in admissions during 2007 to $23.2 million in revenue and $1.1 million in admissions during 2009.
St. Louis city officials and local state legislators have strongly questioned the commission’s recommendations. The commission’s staff recommendation to revoke the license drew a strong reaction from St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, who called it “arbitrary, unsupportable and illegal recommendation.”
Surrendering the license could open up the possibility of another casino elsewhere in the state.
McCarthy said the commission will discuss the availability of the license at their next scheduled meeting on March 24. The state currently is limited to issuing 13 licenses for casinos. There has been an interest in opening casinos in other parts of the state, including a proposal in north St. Louis County near the Columbia Bottoms Wildlife area.
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