Las Vegas company’s plan for Missouri advances

Betsy Taylor

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2004 | 9:12 a.m.

ST. LOUIS -- Pinnacle Entertainment is betting on the St. Louis region.

The Las Vegas-based company's plan to build a $300 million casino complex in south St. Louis County beat out Isle of Capri's proposal Tuesday, setting up Pinnacle to build two new casinos in the city and county.

The proposals face additional approvals before they can move forward.

St. Louis County Port Authority commissioners approved the choice of Pinnacle, made by a selection committee.

Pinnacle's chairman and CEO Dan Lee said, "The first moment is elation and then the responsibility of it settles on you."

Lee said the business is looking to build about $550 million worth of casinos and related attractions and planning to employ a few thousand people in the region.

The city of St. Louis also selected Pinnacle last month to build a downtown casino, partly because it proposed to build on a much larger scale than Isle of Capri, which also pitched a $151 million downtown project.

The city and county pursued casinos together to help each other get better proposals, believing state gaming regulators were more likely to approve a two-boat, city-county project from the same company than a single, county-only casino. Gaming officials previously expressed concern that a new casino in south St. Louis County would hurt revenue at a downtown one.

Harrah's Entertainment was eliminated from county consideration last month, in part because the company had not pitched a city plan.

Lee said Pinnacle thinks two casinos in the area will work well. He envisions the downtown casino, in part, as a tourist draw on seven acres with a luxury hotel near the convention center and the Edward Jones Dome, where the St. Louis Rams play.

The downtown Laclede's Landing proposal is a two-stage, $250 million project that is slated to include a hotel, meeting center, health club, spa and salon, restaurants, bars and condominiums.

Lee said the county complex will draw visitors, but also area residents, with gambling, movie theaters and a bowling alley.

The county project, planned in the St. Louis suburb of Lemay, is a $300 million plan on 80 acres. It would have a 90,000-square-foot casino with 3,000 slot machines and about 50 gaming tables, a 100-room hotel, plus an outlet mall and a park with an aquatic center.

The Pinnacle county casino would be at the site of the former National Lead plant, which produced paint pigment. The land still needs environmental cleanup, and the Missouri Gaming Commission passed the site over when another company made a pitch about three years ago.

Lee said the cleanup shouldn't be a problem.

Biloxi, Miss.-based Isle of Capri first proposed a project in St. Louis County totaling $167 million but recently expanded its county plan to a $300 million pitch. That plan lost out Tuesday, and phone calls seeking comment went unanswered after business hours.

Pinnacle will now have 60 days to negotiate a contract with the county. The proposal then must be approved by the county council. From there, the Missouri Gaming Commission decides if it wants to issue a license.

Deborah Wirtel, 42, a mother who lives in unincorporated south St. Louis County, is opposed to casinos in the area. She particularly disliked the Isle of Capri county plan because it was located near an elementary school one of her children attends.

"While we are relieved that the casino won't be in our backyard, we are concerned that the county doesn't need another casino," she said.

Wirtel said she will continue to fight against the Pinnacle plan or other casinos in the region.