Riverboat Casino Relocation Approved

St. Mary Parish will be home to a displaced New Orleans casino give or take three months as voters in the location approved a proposition that allows a Columbia Sussex Corporation riverboat casino to relocate to the Amelia area.

The relocation garnered 5,163 votes or 65 percent of the total vote count. The voting turnout will now allow the former Belle of Orleans casino to relocate, and to be renamed in the process to the Belle of Amelia.

According to St. Mary Parish President Paul Naquin, the process to get the casino moved into the parish will start soon and move quickly.

"The next step is they are going to have a project engineer on site Monday to look at the bulk heading and the parking lot," he said. "They are on the move tonight. They're not going to let the grass grow under their feet."

The boat is expected to bring $1.5 million to the parish upon the first day of operation.

"The first day they open the doors, they are going to cut a check to the parish for $1.5 million," he said.

"It's not earmarked for anything. It's just going to go into our general fund budget, and it'll be dispersed from there," he said.

Naquin said that the parish council is still deliberating on how to use the money. However, one thing for sure is that additional security will be placed on the Amelia area.

About 400 job openings are expected to be made available by the casino riverboat. But with support jobs such as vendors, the number is expected to rise to 600-700.