Page 37: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 1993)

Chicago Looks Into Building

Entertainment Complex/ Five

Gaming Boats

Chicago legislators are report- edly looking into raising the $1 bil- lion needed to establish a riverboat casino complex, which, as currently outlined, includes plans for five riverboats along 150 acres of the

Chicago River.

The legislation, in its infancy at press time, would increase the state's gaming tax from 20 to 25 percent for the Chicago riverboats. The city would also impose an eight percent franchise fee to the developers of the project.

Casino America Debuts 45,000-sq.-ft. Dockside

Facility In Biloxi

Casino America recently unveiled its new floating pavilion, a facility which reportedly enhances the tropi- cal theme and substantially in- creases the size of the company's

Isle of Capri Casino in Biloxi, Miss.

The two-story pavilion contains 45,000-sq.-ft. of gaming space, a space which features 1,200 slot ma- chines, 50 gaming tables and 14 poker tables.

It is located next to the casino's existing riverboat, the Emerald

Lady, which has 15,000-sq.-ft. of gaming space, including 500 slot machines.

The Biloxi facility previously was comprised of two riverboats joined by a floating pavilion.

The company is relocating one of the riverboats and the old pavilion to the new Isle of Capri Casino in

Vicksburg, Miss.

Riverboat Gaming Receipts

Rise In Illinois

Riverboat casino May wins to- taled more than $13.8 million, up from $13.6 million in April, accord- ing to figures supplied to the Illinois

Gaming Board.

Riverboat casino admissions to- taled 848,513 in June, compared with 684,377 in May.

For the fiscal year-to-date, begin- ning July 1, the gaming board said adjusted gross receipts and admis- sions were as follows for the follow- ing vessels:

Boat Adjusted Gross Receipts

Admissions

Vessel Receipts Admissions

Alton Belle $54,447,849 862,676

E. Peoria Par-A-Dice $56,419,767 1,099,459

Casino Rock Island $35,836,457 846,425

Joliet Empress $162,370,099 1,973,048

Jo Daviess Silver Eagle $31,293,932 860,427

Metropolis Players $20,396,181 426,816

August, 1993

MTU Improves 396 Series

Engine Line

MTU Friedrichshafen has report- edly perfected both the injection and supercharging methods on its "396" engines, effectively reducing con- sumption figures for the TE marine version. Touting it as a future-ori- ented concept, injection refinement has also led to optimized combus- tion with the added benefit of fuel efficiency and reduced exhaust emis- sion, reports the manufacturer.

Thermal engine loading has dimin- ished so that the power reduction under conditions of 45-degrees Cel- sius air/32 degree Celsius seawater will be as little as three percent, as compared to the previous 11 per- cent. For more information on the 396 series from MTU,

Circle 53 on Reader Service Card

The MTU 396 Series engine was recently im- proved.

Circle 287 on Reader Service Card 39