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Proposed La. casino site sires controversy
 Message was posted: 05:42 Dec 8th, 2006     
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Casino news source: Clarion Ledger - http://www.clarionledger.com/


Proposed La. casino site sires controversy
The Associated Press

BATON ROUGE — Pinnacle Entertainment wants to put its proposed south Baton Rouge riverboat casino on a large man-made pond between Nicholson Drive and River Road - close to, but not directly on the Mississippi River.

The arrangement would mark a significant departure from the way Louisiana floating casinos are required to operate on major waterways.

State police and the attorney general's office are looking into the matter, Charles Gaudin, chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, said of Pinnacle's plan. "I can tell you it hasn't been done anywhere else," he said Monday.

Pinnacle is seeking state regulators' permission to build a $250 million riverboat casino-hotel that could open by late 2009. Regulators have not indicated when they will decide.

Pinnacle President Wade Hundley acknowledged Monday that Pinnacle did not release the specific location for the casino because the company knew the plan would be controversial and it first wanted regulators' clearance.

But Hundley said the company believes "there is precedent in other jurisdictions for what we've proposed."

He referred to boats in Shreveport and Lake Charles that are allowed to operate in pools along area rivers. The pools were created by using cofferdams to divert river water.

Eric Schippers, a spokesman for competitor Casino Rouge's parent company, Penn National Gaming in Wyomissing, Pa., countered that what Pinnacle proposes is significantly different.

"We don't believe this type of proposal is allowed by any state statute," Schippers said.

Schippers cited state gambling laws that specifically require riverboats to operate "upon designated rivers or waterways."

"We believe that if this were to be approved, this would easily be described as Louisiana entering a new era of land-based gaming," Schippers said.

"We try to look at the gaming laws and play by the rules that are there. We believe that what we've proposed would fit under the existing rules, but that's why the Gaming Control Board is there to interpret those rules," Hundley said.

If regulators don't agree, Hundley said, the company is prepared with alternatives.

Pinnacle's proposal to put a third floating casino in Baton Rouge quickly sparked controversy among area residents, some of whom say that part of town is not appropriate for a large gambling operation.





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