“We’re very excited about what they’re building there,” he said Friday. Johns resigned his District 27 Senate seat to serve on the board.
The Thursday meeting was Johns’ first as board chairman since being appointed by Gov. Ronnie Johns, gaming board chairman, said the updated plans for the Horseshoe Casino is good news for Southwest Louisiana, Southeast Texas and the greater casino community. Favre said there is a contract to sell the riverboat to a licensed gaming supplier. Hurricane Laura’s 150-mile-per-hour winds pushed the riverboat and wedged it underneath the Interstate 10-Calcasieu River bridge. The board approved the old Isle of Capri riverboat to be sold. Favre said it’s a smarter financial move to use the money set aside to renovate the Inn on upgrading the tower hotel rooms. The gaming board’s approval allows for demolition of the Inn – the older hotel on the Isle property that sustained severe damage from Hurricane Laura. Eldorado completed its $17.3 billion purchase of Caesars in July 2020 and took the Caesars name. At that time, the casino was set to be rebranded as Eldorado Resorts. The gaming board in December 2019 approved the Isle relocating its riverboat casino to land, the first to get state approval. Act 469, approved by the Louisiana Legislature in the 2018 session, allowed riverboat licenses to relocate within 1,200 feet of their berth to a land-based space.
