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December 27, 2006ASSOCIATED PRESS
A riverboat casino should arrive at its new St. Mary Parish home this week, but the owners have not set a date for its opening, a lawyer for the company said last Tuesday.
Columbia Sussex Corp., owner of the Amelia Belle riverboat, is having the vessel repaired in Alabama and plans to move it to Amelia on Dec. 27, weather permitting, said Kelly Duncan, a lawyer for the company. Duncan told state gambling regulators last week that the company should know by next month when the casino will open.
The riverboat, formerly called the Belle of Orleans, was docked in New Orleans until it was smashed by Hurricane Katrina.
Columbia is fighting a legal battle with the vessel’s former landlord, the Orleans Parish Levee District over nonpayment of rent since Katrina hit in August, 2005. The levee district has filed a civil suit in New Orleans, saying said the company owes over $1.3 million.
St. Mary Parish voters approved a ballot measure in July that allows Columbia to move the casino to Amelia.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board on Tuesday also approved two changes to the plans for the site surrounding the riverboat’s docking area: construction of a kitchen building and an administrative building for casino workers and state police.
