Pinnacle to add $150 million investment in Lemay casino project

By Steve Birmingham

Pinnacle Entertainment will up its original $300 million investment in the River City Casino and Hotel another $150 million, for a total of $450 million.

Pinnacle spokesman Mack Bradley said the proposal to up the investment and revise the construction schedule into two phases was made Nov. 8 to the St. Louis County Port Authority. All that was left was to iron out some details, he said.

Exactly what will be added with the $150 million still has not been released.

However, rumors have recently swirled in the Lemay community that the gaming company may cut other amenities included in its deal with the county, which include athletic fields or a community center, are untrue, Bradley said.

"All of the non-gaming amenities in the original proposal are still on the table," Bradley said. "There isn't anything that was in the original proposal that's off the table now. Markets change and we're going to be working with the county very closely to make sure that the non-gaming amenities make sense."

Pinnacle estimates the River City Casino and Hotel project will create approximately 1,000 jobs during its construction and nearly 2,000 permanent jobs for the community.

Plans call for it to feature a 3,000-slot casino, a 100-room hotel, more than 280,000 square feet of retail and entertainment amenities, including a band pavilion, athletic fields and a community/aquatic center.

Barb Hehmeyer, executive director of the Lemay Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Lemay Development Corporation, said she was pleased to hear the news and that it should silence the rumors.

"As long as we get everything that we thought we were going to get, I'm sure the community will be pleased," Hehmeyer said. " I think this will put all their fears to rest."

Hehmeyer said what was concerning Lemay residents was that some of the features were going to be cut from the development.

"As long as those are on the table and there're guarantees that this will happen that's fine," she said. "That makes everybody happy."

St. Louis County Chief Operating Officer Garry Earls, who has been involved in discussions with Pinnacle officials, said it was a good deal all the way around.

"Certainly we'd like to settle on a revised agreement that would increase their commitment by 50 percent and still get us a casino in as early as possible time," Earls said. "As long as they're working on it from the standpoint of giving us a high-quality product that provides great service to the people of St. Louis County, we're enthusiastic about it. We just have to work out the details."

Bradley said the first $375 million will be spent in Phase 1 of the construction, of the casino and hotel. Phase 2 will include investing the remaining $75 million, with Phase 2 to be complete within three years of Phase 1.

"You can either extend the timeline a little bit to try and manage the process, or you can sacrifice quality in the property," Bradley said. "If you look at what Pinnacle is doing, not just in St. Louis, but in other areas, sacrificing quality is not what we do. We're known for building very high-quality projects and that's what we're committed to building in Lemay. Reducing quality was not an option"

Bradley she said the original agreement called for an absolute latest opening date of August 2009, and added "we'll still be well inside that date."