Chances for second Natchez casino fading

Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2000 | 10:45 a.m.

Board of Supervisors president Virginia Salmon said Monday that developer Charles Liberis, owner of CSL Development Corp.'s Southern Stars Casino, told her he is no longer interested in placing a dockside casino at the mouth of St. Catherine Creek.

CSL, based in Pensacola, Fla., was the first company to officially announce an interest in what was the site of Belwood Country Club along the Mississippi River. The county bought the property several years ago for use as an industrial park. Supervisors agreed Monday to allow the county to clean up the overgrown property to make it attractive to another investor.

In April 1999, Liberis entered into an agreement to pay the county $5,000 a month while conducting a year of tests at the site.

CSL has not made a monthly payment since October 1999, said Chancery Clerk Tommy O'Beirne.

CSL had proposed locating a casino on 40 acres of the east side of the 75-acre Belwood property.

Biloxi-based Isle of Capri bought Lady Luck's dockside casino in Natchez earlier this year.