BATON ROUGE, LA – On Tuesday, August 10, 2021, CPL, alongside project partners and members of the community, celebrated the groundbreaking for a new land-based casino venture.
After approval by the Louisiana State Gaming Commission in 2018, which allowed riverboat casinos to relocate and operate on land, GLPI’s (Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc.) push to bring Hollywood Casino’s riverboat gaming into its hospitality pavilion began. The project marks the second casino planned to come ashore in Louisiana.
“It will be a better experience for our customers, and it will clearly build business in the area,” said Chairman and CEO of GLPI, Peter Carlino. “As this plan evolves, we will spend initially more than $60M and expect it to have a profound impact on the success of this business.”
CPL worked closely with GLPI and Roger Charles Design to develop preliminary concepts and produce a final master plan to transform the pavilion into the new land-based gaming destination.
“While our team has experience in casino design and engineering in upstate New York, this will be CPL’s largest gaming project to date,” said CPL Principal, K. Scott Gordon, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP. “We are fortunate to have teamed with so many amazing partners on this project and are honored to celebrate the land side groundbreaking with GLPI and the Baton Rouge community.”
Along with substantial pavilion renovations, a 52,000 sq. ft addition is included in the design. Vegas-style table games, up to 1,200 new slot machines, a sports entertainment and performance venue, Shaquille O’Neal’s Big Chicken restaurant, and an improved boardwalk to accommodate Viking Cruise Lines port-of-call visits are just some of the new casino’s highly anticipated features.
The casino is expected to have a significant impact on the state and local economies. The estimated job creation includes approximately 160 jobs during construction and over 500 new jobs for casino operation. A boost in tourism is also forecasted, and the community is hopeful that Shaq himself will stop in from time to time.
Construction is scheduled to be completed in late 2022.
Project Team Members: Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI), Owner of Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge; Casino Queen Holdings, Operator; James J. Baum, Owner’s Representative; CPL, Architect and Engineer of Record; Roger Charles Design, Casino Interior Design Specialist; Ted Barber and Associates, Food Service Specialist; CSRS, Civil Engineers; Patai Architecture, Casino Architectural Specialist; Gregory P. Luth and Associates, Structural Engineers; Lighting Design Alliance, Lighting Designers; and W.E. O’Neil, Contractor.