Agency approves plan to move casino

Thursday, Aug. 21, 2003 | 9:17 a.m.

JACKSON, Miss. -- The Mississippi Gaming Commission has approved a plan to move Treasure Bay Casino's gambling barge into a man-made basin east of its current location in Biloxi.

Larry Gregory, executive director of the Gaming Commission, said the decision to allow Treasure Bay to move a few hundred feet on the Gulf Coast was made after reviewing cases involving casino sites and after consulting with staff attorneys.

Jeff Reynolds, a Jackson attorney representing Treasure Bay's current landlords, the Mladinich family, said he will appeal the decision to Hinds County Circuit Court.

"Clearly this decision is incorrect," Reynolds said. "The Gaming Commission just created land-based gambling, something they are restricted from doing."

Treasure Bay would move a few hundred feet to the east into a man-made concrete basin filled with water from the Mississippi Sound.

Bernie Burkholder, president and chief executive officer of Treasure Bay, said regulators have approved casino sites in Tunica County that are in man-made canals more than a mile from the Mississippi River.

The casino has to relocate to prevent storm damage, Burkholder said.

Over the past nine years, the Biloxi casino has sustained more than $30 million in damage from hurricanes and tropical storms.

Biloxi attorney Gerald Blessey, who also represents the Mladinich family, said Treasure Bay didn't look at other alternatives, such as building a breakwater and improving moorings.