NEW EAST ST. LOUIS CASINO IS LARGEST INLAND WATERWAY VESSEL

WICKLIFFE, Ky. - What is said to be the largest vessel ever built to operate on the inland waterways passed Cape Girardeau early Friday morning en route to its destination at East St. Louis.

The $18.5 million Casino Queen was expected to arrive at St. Louis about noon Saturday in preparation for its grand opening later this month as a floating gambling casino.

On Thursday afternoon, a Southeast Missourian reporter boarded the Casino Queen as the vessel was stopped in mid-stream on the Mississippi River at Wickliffe, Ky., to take on fuel and water for the final leg of her maiden journey from Pensacola, Fla., to East St. Louis.

On board, workers were busy setting up and fine-tuning the 850 slot machines and completing the rest of the work on the boat.

Although the Queen is not completely furnished, there's little doubt when you enter the carpeted Grand Salon and climb its ornate staircase that leads to the three upper decks that this boat was designed as a floating palace, styled like a turn-of-the-century Mississippi River steamboat.

The grand entrance is a three-story atrium crowned by a seven-foot chandelier (which was still secured by ropes to prevent it from swaying during the Casino Queen's trip across Mobile Bay on the Intercoastal Waterway) and circled by a wrought-iron staircase.

The six salons five for gambling and one for buffet meal service are decorated in a red and gold color scheme and underlaid with custom-designed carpeting.

Hand-painted, marble-like columns, 150 of them, separate the four decks. Like the smoke stacks and the paddle wheel boxes on each side, they're not what they seem. The columns are actually made of steel, of which the entire boat is constructed, from the keel to the pilot house.

The decorative 1800s stylishness of the Casino Queen hides its high-tech heart. The $13 million boat, equipped with $5.5 million in slot machines and other gaming paraphernalia, has a steel-core with computerized diesel power. The boat is called the cutting edge in marine architecture and technology.

It was constructed at the Patti Shipyards at Pensacola. The Casino Queen is one of at least eight gaming boats the shipyard has constructed.

The Casino Queen is 447 feet long, from bow to stern, with a 70-foot beam (width). The boat towers four stories above the waterline, and has a displaced weight of 3,500 tons when fully loaded. The boat can carry more than 3,000 passengers on its cruises up and down the Mississippi River at St. Louis.

In addition to the 850 slot machines, there are 40 blackjack tables, plus roulette, craps and baccarat tables. There are seven bars, two of them more than 60 feet long. All of the bars are supplied by a central liquor distribution system that pipes liquor throughout the boat.

What most passengers will not see while on board the Casino Queen are its inner workings:

A "soft" counting room where workers in jumpsuits without pockets will count currency after each day, watched by the casino manager through the window of an adjoining room.

Two surveillance rooms, one for the casino manager and one for the state of Illinois, which expects $50 million a year from Casino Queen gaming.

A kitchen equipped to serve 1.8 million customers per year, with a dishwasher that washes 250 racks of dishes an hour.

And just in case someone on the boat decides to misbehave, the Casino Queen has a "brig" with room for two, handcuffs for one.

The Queen is powered by three Cummins diesel engines that develop a total of 3,750 horsepower. Its electrical generator (there are two, one for standby) provides 1.5 million watts of power, enough to power 70 homes.

A unique feature of the Casino Queen is that it is actually two vessels in one. The aft portion of the boat is the power module where the three diesel engines that turn the three screws that propel the boat are located.

The engine module is secured to the forward section of the boat, where the casinos and dining area are located, by large wires that are attached to 60-ton wenches. Where the two boats join together, there is a large rubber "buffer" that absorbs vibration of the engines from reaching the casinos.

Capt. Bill Streckfus, director of marine operations for Casino Queen, Inc., said because the Casino Queen is so long, there is no dry dock on the Upper Mississippi River that can handle that size vessel. "If we need to put the boat on dry dock, all we have to do is detach the power module and either one of them will fit on any of the dry docks in the St. Louis area," he said.

Streckfus is one of the four captains that will operate the Casino Queen on its St. Louis river cruises.

The Casino Queen is scheduled to begin cruises on June 21. The boat will offer six three-hour cruises per day. Tickets will be $3 to $5 each. Table betting limits will be $5, to $2,000.