New St. Louis casino to open Dec. 19

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A new downtown St. Louis casino that will be the centerpiece of a roughly $500 million complex is tentatively scheduled to open Dec. 19, a project spokesman said Tuesday.

The casino, Lumiere Place, is owned by Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. The company also announced Tuesday that a Four Seasons Hotel will be part of the plan for a new entertainment district.

Las Vegas-based Pinnacle will own the hotel, which will be managed by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. It will feature 200 rooms with an eighth-floor "sky lobby" overlooking a rooftop pool with views of the Gateway Arch.

The hotel will also have a restaurant called Cielo, a presidential suite of more than 3,000 square feet, meeting and banquet space and a day spa.

Also as part of the Pinnacle project, a former Embassy Suites hotel is undergoing a $16 million renovation, and will be renamed HoteLumiere. Both hotels are scheduled to open by March 2008, said Pinnacle spokesman Mack Bradley.

Underground moving walkways will pass below Interstate 70, offering a connection between the casino complex in the Laclede's Landing area and the area near the America's Center convention center. The tunnel is also expected to open in March.

Pinnacle is also planning a casino complex in south St. Louis County, but said last week that $375 million project, originally scheduled to open in 2008, will be delayed until the first half of 2009 while the company focuses on finishing the downtown project.