Century Casinos has provided an update on its Caruthersville casino in Missouri, as the state announced a change to the laws governing where casinos can be built.
From now on, the Missouri Gaming Commission will have the ability to approve a casino facility that is built as a standard building as long as it also includes a container with at least 2,000 gallons of water beneath the facility.
With this comes the opportunity for Century Casino Caruthersville, the last remaining riverboat casino on open water in Missouri, to begin the process of moving to a non-floating facility.
The company has purchased land within the same area as its land-based Pavilion building, which contains the path to its riverboat casino, a restaurant and other multifunctional spaces.
This land comes with an existing two-story hotel, providing a wealth of options for a future casino and hotel development. The company will refurbish the existing hotel, with the hope to reopen in early 2022.
The operator has revealed that the company already has begun working with an architecture firm to develop plans for a new casino on this land.
Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, co-CEO’s of Century Casinos, said in a statement, "We are very thankful to the Missouri legislature, the Caruthersville community and our management in Missouri for having driven and supported our successful efforts in Missouri."
"We look forward to bringing exciting improvements to our property in Caruthersville."
Missouri still retains its cap of 13 casinos and the facilities are still required to be within 1,000 feet of the Mississippi or Missouri rivers. Century operates two casinos in the state, with a combined total of 1,365 slot machines and 32 table games.
The company also operates casinos in locations such as Colorado, Edmonton and West Virginia.
