Heartland casino development has been rolling along, with land-based gaming halls and massive gambling barges continuing to replace traditional riverboats. Coming with them are plush guest rooms and dazzling multipurpose events centers and ballrooms.
New Native American casino projects have also increased the options for meeting planners. According to the National Indian Gaming Commission, gaming revenues at the 111 Native American gaming facilities in its Midwest region totaled $4.4 billion last year, a 4.2 percent increase over 2007, which was above the 2.3 percent increase nationwide.
Indiana
The Hoosier State pulled in $2.67 billion in gaming revenues last year, a 1.6 percent increase over 2007, according to the American Gaming Association (AGA).
In addition to its 10 river-based casinos and one land-based facility, it now has two racetrack casinos (racinos). Indiana became the country’s 12th racino state in June last year when two Central Indiana horse tracks opened casinos, approved by the state legislature in 2007. Each casino has 2,000 slot machines.
Indiana Downs, 15 miles southeast of Indianapolis off I-74, recently unveiled its new $200 million Indiana Live! Casino. Connected to its clubhouse, the casino also features six dining and entertainment venues.
Five Indiana lakeside casinos are part of Chicagoland, the country’s third-largest casino market after Las Vegas and Atlantic City, according to AGA.
In August 2008, Harrah’s Entertainment debuted a $500 million expansion at Horseshoe Hammond, 20 minutes from downtown Chicago. For the grand opening, Bette Midler performed at The Venue, its new 4,000-seat entertainment facility. Twice the size of the former facility, the new 3,200-slot casino features a variety of dining outlets, including a 650-seat buffet.
In Michigan City, Boyd Gaming Corp. opened a $130 million expansion at its Blue Chip Casino, Hotel & Spa in January, three years after unveiling its 2,000-slot casino. New are the 302-room Spa Blue Tower, bringing total guest rooms to 486, a 10,000-square-foot spa, two restaurants and the Stardust Event Center, which includes a 15,000-square-foot ballroom.
Less than 25 miles from downtown Chicago, Resorts East Chicago was rebranded the Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago in June 2008 following a $30 million renovation. In 2007, Ameristar Casinos acquired the 1,900-slot property, which has a 291-room hotel and 5,369 square feet of meeting space.
Penn National Gaming is set to unveil the new Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg, the rebranded $300 million expansion of its 300-room Argosy Hotel & Casino, this summer. With 3,700 slots, it will have double the gaming area of the existing facility.
In another rebranding, the 503-room Caesars Indiana in Elizabeth became the Horseshoe Southern Indiana in July 2008, following a $53 million renovation. It has an upgraded 2,400-slot riverboat, golf and 14,000 square feet of meeting space.
In French Lick, the $500 million French Lick Resort recently opened its par-72, 7,400-yard Pete Dye Course. Indiana’s first land-based casino when it opened in phases in late 2006 and 2007, French Lick has two restored historic hotels, offering a total of 686 guest rooms, 115,000 square of meeting space, two spas and 45 holes of golf.
Illinois
The Prairie State has nine dockside casinos, all on rivers. Four are part of the Chicagoland market.
Empress Casino Hotel in Joliet recently reopened. While undergoing a $55 million renovation last March, the property closed due to a fire that destroyed its land-based pavilion but did not spread to its gaming barge and 100-room hotel. Joliet has one other casino: the 200-room Harrah’s Joliet, with 6,000 square feet of meeting space.
Two Illinois facilities are part of the St. Louis market: the Argosy Alton, 20 miles north of downtown, and the 150-room Casino Queen in East St. Louis, across the Mississippi from the Gateway Arch. Casino Queen replaced its riverboat with a $92 million, 1,100-slot casino two years ago.
Missouri
Casino revenues in the Show Me State increased 5.7 percent last year to $1.68 billion.
Downtown St. Louis welcomed the state’s 12th riverfront casino in December 2007 with the opening of Pinnacle Entertainment’s 2,000-slot Lumiere Place.
Other components of the $500 million Lumiere Place soon followed: the new 200-room Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis and the rebranded, renovated 294-room HoteLumiere, a former Embassy Suites property with 22,000-square feet of meeting space. Connected to the America’s Center convention facility by walkways, Lumiere Place also includes the President Casino, a riverboat operated by Pinnacle.
Early next year Pinnacle plans to open its new 2,000-slot River City Casino, which is under construction off I-55, 10 miles south of downtown on a site overlooking the Mississippi in Lemay. It will be the first phase of a $350 million casino project that will include a hotel.
St. Louis also has the 500-room Harrah’s St. Louis, Maryland Heights, with 12,000 square feet of meeting space. And 20 miles north is the 3,300-slot Ameristar Casino St. Charles, which has 19,200 square feet of conference space, and opened a 400-suite hotel and spa in late 2007.
Kansas City has the Argosy Casino Riverside, which opened a 258-room hotel in 2007 and has 22,000 square feet of meeting space. Others are the 184-room Ameristar Kansas City, the 390-room Harrah’s North Kansas City and Isle of Capri Kansas City.
Kansas
Butler National Corp. plans to open Boot Hill Casino & Resort outside Dodge City in December. There will be a 575-slot casino and restaurant and, in further phases of the $88 million project, a 124-room hotel, meeting space and a 500-seat entertainment venue.
Kansas has five Native American casinos operated by four tribes, including the Prairie Band Casino & Resort near Topeka with 1,000 slots, 297 guest rooms and a 12,000-square-foot events center.
Iowa
After leading the commercial gaming states with a 16.2 percent increase in gaming revenues in 2007, the Hawkeye State experienced a further increase of 4.2 percent last year. It has seven riverboat casinos, seven classed by AGA as land-based casinos, three racinos and three Native American casinos.
A gaming boost has come from new casinos replacing traditional riverboats and from four new casinos approved in 2005 and opened in 2006 and 2007.
Wild Rose Entertainment unveiled its $35 million Wild Rose Casino & Resort at Clinton in July 2008. With a 60-room hotel, a 10,000-square-foot ballroom and a 598-slot casino, it replaced the Mississippi Belle II, the last of the state’s cruising riverboats, which ended operations in October 2007.
Wild Rose also operates the 70-room, 550-slot Wild Rose Casino & Resort in Emmetsburg, which has banquet seating for up to 300 and is one of the state’s four new casinos.
The other three new facilities, all with group space, are the $65 million, 200-room Riverside Casino & Golf Resort south of Iowa City; the $134 million, 194-room Isle Casino & Hotel Waterloo; and the Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, operated by Peninsula Gaming.
Dubuque has two new casino properties. Peninsula Gaming unveiled its new $84 million waterfront Diamond Jo Casino Dubuque in December. Replacing a riverboat casino, the new land-based facility includes a 1,000-slot casino, an entertainment complex and a 30-lane bowling alley.
Less than three miles from Diamond Jo is the former Dubuque Greyhound Park & Casino, recently renamed Mystique following a $10 million renovation and expansion that included a 300-seat events center and new restaurants.
Council Bluffs has two riverboat casinos. On the Missouri River a mile apart are the 250-room Harrah’s Council Bluffs and the 160-room Ameristar Casino & Hotel. Harrah’s has 21,000 square feet of meeting space; the Ameristar, a 5,000-square-foot ballroom.
At Bettendorf on the Mississippi, the city-owned $20 million Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center opened in January with more than 24,000 square-feet of meeting space, including a 14,000-square-foot ballroom.
Managed by Isle of Capri Casinos, the convention facility is connected by skywalk to the 514-room Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf, which offers a 9,600-square-foot ballroom. In July last year in southeast Iowa on the Mississippi in Burlington, the new Catfish Bend Casino opened with a 680-slot casino, a 40-suite hotel and more than 9,000 square feet of function space. Replacing a riverboat, it adjoins FunCity, which features a waterpark and a 140-room Best Western.
Michigan
The Great Lakes State has three commercial casinos, all in Detroit, which make up the country’s fifth-largest casino market. Gaming revenues totaled $1.36 billion last year, a 1.9 percent increase over 2007.
July marks the 10th anniversary of Detroit’s first casino, opened in 1999. All three opened in temporary facilities within a little over a year. Under an agreement with the city, their licenses required that they each build 400-room hotels.
A Motown milestone was reached in February when the last of the three permanent casino hotels debuted, the 400-room Greektown Casino Hotel, with 25,000 square feet of meeting space and two new restaurants. The $200 million project included expansion of its 100,000-square-foot casino.
MGM Grand Detroit opened its $800 million complex in October 2007. It has a 400-room hotel, a 30,000-square-foot event center, 100,000 square feet of gaming space and a variety of restaurants and lounges.
MotorCity Casino Hotel unveiled its $300 million expansion in phases between summer 2007 and summer 2008. The casino has a 400-room hotel, an expanded 75,000-square-foot casino and meeting space that includes an 11,890-square-foot ballroom and a 1,200-seat theater.
Michigan has around 20 Native American casinos, almost all in the north.
In June last year near Traverse City, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians opened the 137-room Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel in Williamsburg, with 4,500 square feet of meeting space, replacing its existing casino. Turtle Creek is 10 miles from the tribe’s 660-room Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, which has 54 holes of golf and 85,000 square feet of meeting space.
In July last year, the Hannahville Indian Community’s Island Resort & Casino near Escanaba added the 18-hole Sweetgrass Golf Club, completing a multi-year expansion that increased the number of guest rooms to 275 and added a 1,327-seat showroom.
Minnesota
The Land of 10,000 Lakes has more than 30 Native American gaming facilities.
The Prairie Island Indian Community’s 2,500-slot Treasure Island Resort & Casino in Southern Minnesota at Red Wing unveiled a $50 million expansion last summer. Added were a 30,000-square-foot event and convention center, 230 guest rooms (bringing the room count to 480) and a bowling alley.
Also last summer, Black Bear Casino Resort in Carlton, 20 minutes from Duluth, completed a $120 million expansion, adding a 250-room hotel, an 83,000-square-foot casino, a 17,650-square-foot events center, a bingo hall and new restaurants. The resort, operated by the Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, also has an 18-hole golf course.
In December, the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe plans to open an $18 million, 300-slot casino with a 40-suite hotel and an entertainment facility in Red Lake, replacing an existing facility.
Other meetings-equipped properties include the 600-room Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, 25 minutes from the Twin Cities; the 494-room Grand Casino Mille Lacs in Onamia; the 281-room Grand Casino Hinckley; the 390-room Shooting Star Casino Hotel in Mahnomen; and the 89-room Prairie’s Edge Casino Resort in Granite Falls.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin has almost 30 tribal casinos.
Near downtown Milwaukee, the Potawatomi Bingo Casino unveiled its $240 million expansion in June last year, doubling its number of slots to 3,100 and adding new dining options. Then, in March, the Forest County Potawatomi Community-owned facility added an 11,000-square-foot ballroom.
Located between Green Bay and Wausau in Bowler, North Star Mohican Casino recently opened an expanded 1,200-slot casino and two new restaurants, the first phase of a $100 million expansion. Scheduled to open next year are a 150-room hotel and a 13,000-square-foot convention center.
Among other meetings-friendly Wisconsin casino properties, each with 30,000 square feet of available space, are the Oneida Nation’s 408-room Radisson Hotel & Conference Center in Green Bay and the 315-room Ho-Chunk Casino Hotel & Convention Center in Wisconsin Dells.
