By Rachel Lippmann, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Tight credit markets and a delayed opening schedule will not prevent Pinnacle Entertainment from finishing its project in south St. Louis County.
The $380 million River City Casino in Lemay will open in the first part of 2010 - the company had originally suggested it could open this year. But officials say the company is in good shape financially, because it has very little debt coming due. That makes money more easily available to finish construction on River City.
"It will come from internally generated cash flow, and from room that we have to borrow under our credit facility," said Pinnacle chairman and chief executive officer Daniel Lee.
Lee's statement was part of an earnings call for the company. The report showed that the opening of the Lumiere Casino on Laclede's Landing hammered the revenue of the Admiral Casino, another Pinnacle property just three blocks away. Revenue from the Admiral was down by half, but Lee says the results were not surprising. The company essentially purchased the boat for the license.
"We've reduced the hours of operation, we've reduced the hours the table games work, we've closed the food service on it," Lee said. "I think the heat is still on. The objective there is to minimize the losses while we seek to move it."
The company has purchased a tract of land near the Chain of Rocks Bridge, but any move is still years away.