By Bill Raack, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – State regulators have issued a casino license to Pinnacle Entertainment, which is a building a new facility in downtown St. Louis.
The $507 million casino, hotel and restaurant complex called Lumiere Place is the first new gaming facility to open in the city since the President casino in 1995. Pinnacle President Wade Wundley told the Gaming Commission today that they still plan to open the casino and most of its restaurants on December 19th.
"We still have a tremendous amount of work to do in the next three weeks, putting on the finishing touches on the construction side, training our people, getting them fitted for uniforms, etc., etc. So there's a lot of work to be done. We're working 24 hours a day basically at this point to get this place open in three weeks."
Hundley says two hotels at Lumiere Place will open by early February.
Also today, the Gaming Commission renewing licenses for the President Casino on Laclede's Landing and the Isle of Capri casino in Boonville.