Peninsula Pacific Entertainment P2E, a Los Angeles-based company, hopes to open a $250 million casino resort off Exit 261 in Slidell on Lake Pontchartrain. The proposed casino will use the license for DiamondJacks, located in Bossier City, which closed last year.
Louisiana will only allow 15 riverboat casinos to operate in the state and there are already 14 casinos opened in Louisiana. For this reason, the Slidell casino will need to operate under the existing license for DiamondJacks.
“We’re not increasing the licenses,” state Rep. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge said.
A casino on Lake Pontchartrain will keep locals in Louisiana to gamble instead of going to Mississippi. The casino would create new jobs for St. Tammany Parish and also investments to the casino. Chris Masingill, CEO of St. Tammany Corp., called it a “premium Class A facility,” adding that it would create 1,700 jobs during the construction and 1,900 jobs once fully operational.
The parish will receive 5% tax on its gambling revenue plus the 21.5% state tax. P2E has also agreed to pay $30 million to build a sports and entertainment complex at Lakeshore Marina, the proposed location of the casino, and will pay $5 million towards constructing the Slidell ring levee.
Rep. Mary DuBuisson (R-Slidell) introduced House Bill 497 last week and it passed House Administration on Criminal Justice. The 8 – 2 vote came after a similar bill, Senate Bill 213 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 19. But it’s since been subsequently stalled in the Senate Finance Committee.
According to casino.org, a recent survey reported that the majority of St. Tammany Parish residents want the opportunity to vote on the casino, but that chance might be hindered by the politicking in Baton Rouge. St. Tammany Parish voters and voters in Slidell hopefully will have a chance to vote on the potential casino resort on the local ballot referendum in November 2021.
There are many locals who oppose the project. Randy Boyett, a pastor at Thompson Road Baptist Church in Slidell, and Will Hall, representing the Louisiana Baptists, fear the repercussions the facility will have on the gambling addiction. They were quick to point out that since gambling became legal in 1993, more than 5% of adults have gambling problems. Slidell resident Danielle Clayton fears the casino will bring sex trafficking to the area.
“Very few businesses pop up near casinos,” added Hall.
Masingill backs the casino saying that P2E “maintains a gold standard in the industry and has a track record of being a good corporate citizen.” The company runs casinos across the country including the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino: Sioux City, Iowa, Colonial Downs Racetrack: New Kent, Virginia, Rosie’s Gaming Emporium: Hampton, New Kent, Richmond, Vinton and Dumfries and del Lago Resort & Casino: Waterloo, New York.
“I want to give them a chance to vote on this project,” DuBuisson, said.
