Mo. may seek closure of casino

ST. LOUIS -- One of the first casinos to open after Missouri legalized casino gambling in 1993 could be shut down by the summer, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

The filing included a letter from Missouri Gaming Commission executive director Gene McNary to Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment, owner of the President Casino. The letter said commission staff will recommend at a meeting on Wednesday that the casino's license be revoked, with operations to discontinue as of July 1.

In the letter to John V. Giovenco, interim CEO of Pinnacle, McNary wrote that the company has continued to operate the President "at an unacceptable level" with a "resulting decline in performance."

Jack Godfrey, Pinnacle's general counsel and executive vice president, said in a statement that the company will "pursue all legal remedies to protect our license." Pinnacle spokeswoman Pauline Yoshihashi declined further comment. Gaming Commission spokeswoman LeAnn McCarthy also declined comment.

The President sits on an old riverboat permanently moored on the Mississippi River near the Gateway Arch. It is the smallest casino among the six in the St. Louis area and the only one that actually sits on a riverboat and directly on the river. Flooding over the past several years has frequently forced temporary closures.

The sluggish economy in the St. Louis area hasn't helped, either. The small casino also sits virtually in the shadow of the region's largest casino, Pinnacle's Lumiere Place, which opened in December 2007 a few hundred feet from the President.

The President had $1.78 million in revenue with 86,773 admissions in December; Lumiere Place had $17.5 million in revenue on 625,597 admissions.

Last year, Pinnacle approached the Gaming Commission about the possibility of moving the President to a different location. No formal request was ever made, though, after the Gaming Commission ruled that moving or replacing the President would require Pinnacle to obtain a new license.

That license is a valuable one because Missouri allows just 13 casino licenses. Several other groups, including one in Southeast Missouri, are seeking to open new casinos but cannot because there are no licenses available.

Pinnacle purchased the President in 2006 after the previous owner, President Riverboat Casinos Inc., filed for bankruptcy. Pinnacle paid $45 million for the casino.

Pinnacle said last fall it planned to replace the aging hull of the riverboat, which is due for a Coast Guard inspection in July. McNary's letter called the proposed hull replacement "another ploy aimed at retaining the President's license while its operations continue to decline."

In addition to the President and Lumiere Place, Pinnacle plans to open a third St. Louis-area casino, in south St. Louis County, in March.