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Illinois Senate Approves Casino Boat's Move

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois – As reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "An Illinois Senate committee on Tuesday approved a measure that could help clear the way for the Casino Queen to move its gambling operations off the Mississippi River.

"In the face of opposition from anti-gambling lobbyists, the Senate Executive Committee voted unanimously for a bill allowing the three Illinois riverboat casinos that are on the Mississippi River to move off the waterway. If approved by the Legislature and signed into law, the measure would remove a potential obstacle to the Queen's plans to move the boat to a man-made moat in what is now the parking lot of the complex.

"…The state in 2002 and 2003 amended the law to allow the three boats on the Mississippi to move off the waterway, to man-made 'moats' or other sites, where they don't have to contend with the unpredictability of the river.

"However, state legal officials have since questioned whether those changes in the law were properly approved. The measure that passed the committee on Tuesday clarifies that the three boats can be allowed to move with the permission of state and local authorities.

"…The Casino Queen plans to begin work this summer on a $150 million facility that would be built on the 80 acres it currently owns. The first phase - which will cost about $60 million - includes a boat in a moat to be built in the casino's parking lot, southeast of the riverboat and its 157-room hotel…"

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