Legislation
US – Missouri Gaming Commission amends floating facility law
By Phil - 19 July 2021
Efforts to change a Missouri law that required each casino to be a floating facility have been successful. Going forward, the Missouri Gaming Commission will have the ability to approve a casino facility that is built as a standard building as long as it also includes a container with at least 2,000 gallons of water beneath the facility. This change opens the opportunity for Century Casino Caruthersville, which is the last remaining riverboat casino on open water in Missouri, to move to a non-floating facility.
The Company also purchased parcels of land between land already leased by the Company and the land-based Pavilion building, which contains a restaurant, multifunctional spaces and an entrance to the walkway to the riverboat casino. The purchases also come with a small, existing two-story hotel. The land purchases provide strategic options for the future casino and hotel development and better access to parking. The Company has already started working with a renowned architecture firm to develop plans for the new casino and hotel facility. The Company will refurbish the existing hotel with the goal to reopen it with 36 rooms by early 2022. There is currently no other hotel situated in downtown Caruthersville.
The number of available casino licenses in Missouri remains capped at 13, and casino facilities are still required to be located within 1,000 feet of the Mississippi or Missouri rivers. The Company’s two casinos in Missouri, Century Casino Caruthersville and Century Casino Cape Girardeau, operate 1,365 slot machines and 32 table games and generated 43% of the Company’s net operating revenue and 104% of the Company’s Adjusted EBITDA in Q1 2021.
“We are very thankful to the Missouri legislature, the Caruthersville community and our management in Missouri for having driven and supported our successful efforts in Missouri,” Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, Co Chief Executive Officers of Century Casinos remarked. “We look forward to bringing exciting improvements to our property in Caruthersville,” Haitzmann and Hoetzinger concluded.
