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Pinnacle Plans Casino Tunnel

ST. LOUIS, Missouri – As reported by the River Front Times: "Nearly six months ago, a team of Pinnacle Entertainment's top executives engaged in a freewheeling discussion during a first-quarter earnings conference call about the future of their new $400 million Laclede's Landing casino-development project.

"Shortly after Steve Capp, the company's chief financial officer, bid good morning and offered a 'couple of quick words on the balance sheet and liquidity,' one unidentified company representative addressed a key component of the lavish complex that has received scant attention: a 1,000-foot-long pedestrian tunnel connecting downtown to the casino.

"…This tunnel, the company official suggested, can't help but increase casino attendance and, by doing so, might very well offset the effect of Missouri's $500 loss-limit law. The 1992 gaming statute was enacted as a way of protecting compulsive gamblers by restricting their losses to $500 over a two-hour period.

"…If all goes according to plan, the tunnel will begin near America's Center, a block north of Washington Avenue, travel below Interstate 70 and then rise into "a kind of mezzanine-like area that overlooks the casino," says Pinnacle spokesman Mack Bradley.

"…Upon arriving at the end of the line, customers can choose to head outdoors to visit the Landing or, more important to Pinnacle, make a beeline for the slot machines…"

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