Page 17: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 1994)

In the riverboat casino market...

Legislators Take Center Stage

The Avondale-built Boomtown Belle, which recently opened for business, is shown here during its launching in late April.

The fledgling casino vessel market has encoun- tered some growing pains in the form of legal challenges. Despite the current lull, industry executives close to the situation expect a big pick up ... and soon. —By Greg Trauthwein

To the uninitiated observer, re- cent legislative setbacks in the riverboat gaming market — specifi- cally in Missouri and Indiana — might indicate the end of a market barely in its infancy. But listening to "those in the know," one quickly gets the impression that these set- backs are indeed temporary, and many expect the brisk boat buying pace to pick up again this fall. "This is a temporary setback, and as soon as the issues are resolved, we expect things to pick up," said

Gary Lipely, sales and marketing,

Trinity Marine Group (TMG). "Most of the companies we deal with (in this market) are in a slow down mode, waiting to see what will hap- pen. But, they are definitely getting their ducks in a row so they are in a good position upon resolution."

The boatbuilder's views are espe- cially crucial when attempting to plot the eventual course of the gam- ing boat market, as many of the yards have dedicated considerable time, effort and worker power to designing, developing, selling and manufacturing riverboat casinos.

But boat builders are not, by far, the only group affected by cumber- some legal battles. They, along with prospective owner/operators and local politicians, are all paying close attention to not only the legal proceedings in Missouri and Indi- ana, but also in states which are reportedly close to legalizing this form of entertainment. "Gaming companies are getting gun shy of pouring in millions of dollars (into a facility and vessel) to only have it tied up. Now they wait not only till legislation passes, but to see if there are going to be any court challenges," said Ronald

Babin, sales and marketing man- ager, Avondale Boat Division. While the recent court battles have been discouraging, they have had virtu- ally no effect on business already in the yards, and recent deliveries give the appearance of (booming) busi- ness as usual.

Business As Usual

Avondale recently delivered the 250-ft. (76.2-m) x 72-ft. (22-m)

Boomtown Belle to Boomtown

Westbank. The vessel has approxi- mately 30,000-sq.-ft. of public area and 1,211 gaming positions, includ- ing 849 slots and 362 table positions.

The Caterpillar-powered, 19th

Century-styled vessel operates in

Harvey, La., and will traverse the

Harvey Canal. Avondale's in-house staff, led by Frank A. Ricks III, designed the vessel; Directions In

Design of St. Louis designed the

Western-themed interior.

Also, at press time, Avondale an- nounced its intention to deliver the 266-ft. (81-m) Belle of Baton Rouge, a paddiewheeler owned and oper- ated by Argosy Gaming of Louisi- ana. The boat was to arrive at Jazz

Enterprises' site at Catfish Town in mid-August. This vessel features approximately 29,000-sq.-ft. of pub- lic areas, and was designed by

Rodney Lay & Assoc.; interior by aritime Reporter/Engineering News World Gaming Congress & Exposition Page 3