Land secured for St. Louis casino

Tuesday, Feb. 29, 2000 | 10:52 a.m.

Ameristar Casinos Inc. of Las Vegas today announced it reached an agreement to lease a site near St. Louis for the development of a new casino.

The land is owned by the St. Louis County Port Authority, and currently leased by Southboat, a limited partnership controlled by a consortium of St. Louis business people, including former Anheuser-Busch Inc. President Dennis Long. Southboat would receive a royalty from casino operations.

Southboat's lease agreement indicates the Port Authority will "exclusively endorse" the site for the first casino license to be awarded in South St. Louis County, Ameristar said.

Ameristar has proposed the construction of a $143 million casino in the area, which would feature a 70,000-square-foot casino and more than 2,300 gaming machines.

Three companies -- Ameristar, Lady Luck Gaming Corp. of Las Vegas and Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. of Biloxi, Miss. -- are currently vying for one license to be awarded by the Missouri Gaming Commission for the South St. Louis area. The agreement announced today is contingent on the selection of the Southboat land being approved for the new casino development.

Ameristar is the owner and operator of the Reserve hotel-casino in Henderson.