River City Casino set to open in early March
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
December 15, 2009
By Tim Logan
After six years of planning and 18 months of construction, the region's newest casino is now set to open in early March.
Pinnacle Entertainment made the announcement Monday concerning its new River City Casino, a $375 million gambling facility in Lemay just south of River Des Peres.
While no exact date has been set, the timetable is somewhat ahead of recent projections, which called for an opening in the spring. But it is behind Pinnacle's original plans to open River City in 2008, and then the first half of 2009.
The casino will be the second major facility Pinnacle has built in St. Louis, coming two-plus years after the Las Vegas-based company cut the ribbon on Lumière Place downtown. While that half-billion-dollar casino and hotel complex has been successful, Pinnacle says, it expects River City to be more profitable, in part because there is little competition nearby.
The company proposed both casinos at the same time in 2003 and beat out two other companies for the rights to build them. Cleanup work and acquiring permits for River City took longer than anticipated and at one point Pinnacle delayed work on it to finish Lumière faster. But once construction began in the fall of 2008, it moved quickly.
"Things are really rolling along," said Pinnacle spokesman Mack Bradley.
While River City has "priority status" for one of Missouri's 13 casino licenses, the Missouri Gaming Commission must give its final approval before it opens for business.
The commission will likely vote on the matter at its February meeting and then staffers will spend a few weeks making sure everything meets state standards, said Clarence Greeno, the commission's assistant deputy director for enforcement.
Opening early could give a small boost to St. Louis County's coffers. The casino is expected to generate $1.25 million a month in tax revenue, said Pamela Reitz, the county's director of administration, and county officials had predicted a June 1 opening date.
