Pinnacle gets third delay for BR casino

By MELINDA DESLATTE

posted: 74 DAYS 1 HOUR AGO

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BATON ROUGE, La. -Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. won another delay Tuesday for groundbreaking on a $250 million casino project in south Baton Rouge. But the delay wasn't exactly what the company requested from the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.

The board gave the company an extension until Nov. 5 to enter into a construction contract for the new riverboat casino. The deadline had been Oct. 16.

Pinnacle had asked for an extension until March 31. Instead, the gambling board voted unanimously to consider that extension request at its meeting next month — if Pinnacle submits a more detailed schedule of its pre-construction plans.

Tuesday's vote was the third extension of the casino construction contract deadline since February.

Company officials said they are committed to building the new casino, which would be the third riverboat casino in Baton Rouge.

"We're doing everything we can to move forward with this project in as timely a manner as we can," said Pinnacle executive vice president and general counsel Jack Godfrey.

Gambling board chairman Dane Morgan said he believed the company was acting in good faith and wanted to build the casino, but he said he wanted firmer project plans before continuing to extend the construction deadline.

Godfrey said the company will provide the timelines sought by the gambling board. He blamed the delays on the tight credit market and permitting complications.

"We're in a very difficult development and financing environment," Godfrey said.

Plans include a restaurant, a hotel with at least 100 rooms and a 160,000-square-foot complex, built on a stretch of land along the Mississippi River near the LSU campus. The casino itself would be on a permanently docked riverboat.

The construction contract will need approval from the Gaming Control Board. If Pinnacle receives its requested deadline extension until the end of March, the casino would be on target to open by late 2011 or early 2012, Godfrey said.

Pinnacle also is planning to build a $350 million riverboat casino and resort in Lake Charles, called Sugarcane Bay, to go with its highly successful L'Auberge Du Lac riverboat resort that is a major draw for Texas gamblers.

In Louisiana, Pinnacle also owns Boomtown riverboat casinos in Bossier City and the New Orleans suburb of Harvey.

2009-09-15 15:40:36