Regulators tour riverboat

Tuesday, June 18, 2002 | 11:26 a.m.

BILOXI, Miss. -- The state Gaming Commission on Monday toured a riverboat that developers hope will become the Mississippi coast's 13th casino.

The Biloxi Queen arrived on the Back Bay two weeks ago. Bayview Partners -- led by Hattiesburg businessman Ray Sims and Dennis Skrmetta of Carriere -- plan to make it the centerpiece of a 10-acre development on Clay Point, next door to Imperial Palace.

Sims and Skrmetta have not applied for a gambling license. They said they spent $2.5 million to buy the riverboat and bring it to Biloxi.

The partnership will have to spend a lot more to make it in the highly competitive Coast casino market, said Gaming Commission Chairman Leonard "Len" Blackwell II of Gulfport.

Blackwell said he would first have to see a long-range plan for the site and closely examine the finances for the project before he could vote for it.

"I think the commission has an obligation, certainly I feel an obligation, to the market," said Blackwell. "I don't want to see a casino open and not do well."

Sims said the casino development is projected to cost _$25 million and include a sports bar and 250-seat entertainment venue.

The 25,000-square-foot riverboat would be the smallest coast casino and the only riverboat.

By comparison, the Coast's largest and newest casino, Beau Rivage, cost _$750 million to build. The resort opened in 1999.

The state Gaming Commission requires casinos to invest as much on land-based amenities as they do on their gambling operations over water.