June 30
June 30, 2009
Elsie Rhodes Theriot Andrews
July 2, 2009
The owner of the Evangeline Downs race track and casino in Opelousas has agreed to buy the Amelia Belle riverboat casino near Morgan City.
However, the deal won’t be complete until the Louisiana Gaming Control Board gives its blessing.
Peninsula Gaming LLC of Dubuque, Iowa, owners of Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, has entered into a contract to buy “the Belle” for $106.5 million. The Amelia Belle Casino has roughly 823 slot machines and 25 table games, including a poker room. The sale was announced through a press release, which is posted on www.marketwatch.com.
Brent Stevens, CEO of Peninsula Gaming, said his company looks forward to working with current management at the Amelia Belle, in order to maintain the level of service and overall experience that define Peninsula Gaming’s existing and future operations.
“We’ve been operating in south Central Louisiana for five years at Evangeline and ‘the Belle’ fits perfectly in our portfolio,” Stevens said in the release. “The opportunity to improve performance by creating synergies with our existing property attracted us to this acquisition.”
Stevens said he expects the deal to be completed by September.
Amelia Belle Casino General Manager Bruce Woods said he was “real excited (about the sale) and very fortunate to be able to work with a company who maintains such serious gaming experience.”
“This sale is going to allow us to improve our marketing, our slot and gaming products and, frankly, give us the opportunity to get involved deeper in this community,” Woods said. “I believe they will maintain their current level of service and the overall experience that defines who they are. Of course, they also want to be competitive in this industry.”
The Amelia Belle Casino has been a hot commodity in St. Mary Parish, having celebrated its second anniversary last month. “It continues to set records,” Woods said. “Our only off period was around hurricanes Gustav and Ike, but that’s understandable.”
St. Mary Parish President Paul Naquin said the Belle’s new owners, Peninsula Gaming, have agreed to continue to honor the riverboat’s agreement to pay the parish $15 million – $1.5 million yearly for 10 years – for use of its land.
“The company seems impressive,” Naquin said. “I think the sale is going to be a boon for St. Mary Parish because we should attract more visitors, since the company is planning to market the Amelia Belle with Evangeline Downs.”
Evangeline Downs is located 90 miles from the Amelia Belle Casino. The track was located in Carencro, but moved to Opelousas about six years ago, where the company also won voter approval to locate a slot and video poker casino at its new site.
Peninsula Gaming also owns and operates four off-track betting parlors in Port Allen, New Iberia, Henderson and Eunice, La., the Diamond Jo riverboat casino in Dubuque, Iowa, and the Diamond Jo casino in Worth County, Iowa.
This is not the first owner change for the Amelia Belle. The casino operated first as Bally’s Casino when it opened in Louisiana in 1994 and later, it became the Belle of Orleans.
Columbia Sussex, the Belle’s current owners, purchased the riverboat from Caesars Entertainment for $24 million in June 2005 when it was the Belle of Orleans.
However, barely two months after Columbia Sussex was in operation, Hurricane Katrina caused serious damage to the boat’s engine room as well as new slot machines, which were to be installed in the casino.
In 2006, the company began looking for locations within Louisiana to relocate the riverboat casino because they liked the market.
At the time, Amelia Belle General Manager Bryan Anderson told the Tri-Parish Times & BusinessNews that the present Bayou Boeuf location stood out because of its natural waterway access and land masses on both sides of the waterway, with St. Mary to the west and Assumption Parish to the east.
Voter approval was required to clear the way for the Amelia Belle to set anchor in St. Mary Parish. The deal received overwhelming approval in July 2006 after Columbia Sussex sweetened the offer with a promise of 400 jobs and the $15 million payout.
The following May, the Amelia Belle Casino opened to an overwhelming crowd.
In celebration of its second anniversary, Columbia Sussex delivered its second $1.5 million payment to the parish.
According to the parish’s Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange, proceeds from the first payment went to the sheriff’s office, district attorney’s office, fire departments, various parish agencies including the Council on Aging and to pay debt.
The second payment, for the most part, will be distributed among the sheriff’s and district attorney’s offices, fire departments and the five municipality governments, LaGrange said, noting, “The rest will be up to the council.”
Peninsula Gaming LLC, a Dubuque, Iowa-based operation, will take over the Amelia Belle riverboat casino in Morgan City from Columbia Essex pending approval from the state Gaming Control Board. The Iowa group has inked a deal to pay $106.5 million for the St. Mary Parish-based casino. * File photo / Tri-Parish Times
