Harrah’s casino barge destroyed

David Dishneau

Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005 | 9:38 a.m.

GULFPORT, Miss. -- The Grand Casino Gulfport, one of the glitzy gambling barges that helped turn Mississippi's Gulf Coast into a tourist magnet, went bust Wednesday -- literally.

Three controlled explosions in rapid succession brought down a 50-foot-tall section of the casino that was heaved onto U.S. 90 when Hurricane Katrina roared ashore Aug. 29. The Mississippi Department of Transportation, which oversaw the demolition, hopes to reopen the stretch of highway in downtown Gulfport within 10 days, spokeswoman Gae Blain said.

"Everything was a success," she said.

More than half of the 13 casinos in Gulfport, Biloxi and Bay St. Louis were destroyed by the hurricane, putting thousands out of work and crippling the state's $2.7 billion gambling industry.

The Grand is owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which had two of its four other Mississippi casinos damaged by the storm. Chairman Gary Loveman says Harrah's will rebuild on the Gulf Coast, but the company wants the state law that legalized floating casinos in 1990 changed to allow gambling halls on land -- where they presumably would be safer from storms.

That idea makes sense to Vicki Heidingsfelder, 48, a music teacher from nearby Long Beach who skirted police roadblocks to watch the demolition from a media observation point eight blocks from the Grand.

"I think they're going to have to -- not just for the industry but for the people who depend on them," she said.

Heidingsfelder who lost her home in the storm, said she was a regular customer at the Grand -- but not as a gambler. "They had crawfish boils every Thursday night," she said.

She also saw Willie Nelson, the Charlie Daniels Band and other entertainers at the casino.

David Seyfarth, the transportation department's resident engineer in Gulfport, said two hotels connected to the casino were booked solid on weekends, like other casino hotels along the coast.

Seyfarth said the demolition wasn't an ending.

"If anything, I would say it's the start of something new. I would bet this will be rebuilt better than it was before," he said.

The section blocking the roadway was one of two barges that comprised a gambling, dining and entertainment complex. The other barge, which held most of the 2,200 slots and 72 gaming tables, remains afloat but damaged.

One of the few structures still standing along the nearby shore is a tugboat that was blown ashore by Hurricane Camille in 1969 and converted into a souvenir shop called the SS Camille. Not far away is a hulking, 160-foot commercial barge that, like the Grand, was tossed ashore by Katrina.

"Maybe that'll be the SS Katrina," Seyfarth said.