Casino news source - Sun Herald - http://www.sunherald.com
Treasure Bay expanding casino
251-room hotel to reopen next year
By TOM WILEMON
tewilemon@sunherald.com
BILOXI - Fountains of fire and water will greet motorists on U.S. 90 when Treasure Bay reopens its hotel and expands its casino early next year.
The property has come back in small steps, initially reopening in June with only 81 slot machines and then adding 147 in August. Another 103 slots, including the ever-popular Wheel-of-Fortune progressives, should be online in two weeks. By late February or early March, Treasure Bay expects to have its 251-room hotel back open and all of its 24,557-square-foot casino in operation, including table games.
Treasure Bay had hoped to be in full operation by this month.
"We've run into a lot of challenges because of the age of the building, some things we hadn't foreseen," said Susan Varnes, chief operating officer of Treasure Bay Gaming & Resorts Inc.
Instead of repairing the roof over the land-based casino, Treasure Bay wound up having to replace it.
Varnes said about 600 employees will be needed when the casino is fully operational.
"We have a lot of people who used to work here before who have their applications in," she said. "I think we're going to be OK on employees. I'm not as worried as a I once was. Everyone has kept checking in on us, the workers who used to work here."
Inside, the small casino has a sturdy and handsome look with rock, copper and slate. But gamblers have to walk through a plywood-covered construction tunnel to get there. That will change.
"There's a lot of stone that's going around the porte-cochere and along the front, where we will have these fire and water fountains that will be going up in the next couple of months," Varnes said. "Once we get completed, I think the outside is going to make you want to come inside. The major focal point will be three water fountains that spurt in the air and two water fountains that shoot in the air. They are all six feet tall."
The casino has leased land on its east side so gamblers will have convenient parking when the hotel is fully operational. It has bought other properties since Hurricane Katrina and now has a footprint of 25 to 30 acres for future expansions. |
|
World Casino Directory 
Gambling Forums 
