By Dave Palermo, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Oct. 1--State gambling regulators and emergency management officials agreed Wednesday to allow six of 11 Coast casinos shut down since Friday by Hurricane Georges to resume operations.

Casino Magic in Biloxi and Bay St. Louis and Imperial Palace Biloxi opened for business late Wednesday, when Mississippi Emergency Management Agency officials decided the flood of customers and employees returning to work would not snarl Coastal roads and highways.

Boomtown, New Palace and President Casino are expected to open by noon today, according to officials with the three Biloxi businesses. The two Gulfport casinos -- Grand Casino Gulfport and the Copa -- were ordered to remain closed because of a boil water order in that city.

Grand Gulfport will reopen at 2 p.m. Friday, said general manager Rob Wyre. Copa general manager Neil Narter said the dockside ship, which sustained a damaged ramp and severed utility lines in the storm, may reopen this weekend.

Isle of Capri Casino in Biloxi is expected to reopen Friday, and Grand Casino Biloxi may resume operations next Thursday, according to company officials.

Treasure Bay, which sustained glass and water damage, also is expected to open next Thursday, said company president Bernie Burkholder.

Mississippi Gaming Commission agents approved the opening of several Coast casinos at noon Wednesday, but the decision was reversed when MEMA expressed concern about increased traffic and broken signal lights.

"We got ahead of ourselves," Gaming Commission executive director Chuck Patton said. "When they lifted the curfew, we thought it would be all right. MEMA asked us to back off and, of course, we'll cooperate.

"We may have unintentionally put pressure" on disaster agencies, Patton said. "We certainly didn't want to do that."

MEMA deputy director Leon Shaifer said "a number of factors are weighed" in deciding to allow businesses to resume operations.

"We certainly want to see things get back to normal from a commercial standpoint as soon as possible," Shaifer said. "But we have to weigh those things ... with concerns about traffic and law enforcement and public health."

Cliff Lusk, spokesman for MEMA, said the agency's chief concern is whether it's safe to reopen the casinos.

"If in Gulfport they are still under a boil-water order," he said, "it's still not safe to open a public building that doesn't have reliable, safe water ... if the road is still chock full of debris, it creates a traffic problem."

MEMA cannot order casinos to stay open or close, only recommend to the Gaming Commission, he said.

"They have sole discretion to open," Lusk said, "even if we are opposed to casino plans."

The 11 Coast casinos employ more than 12,700 people, according to Gaming Commission records. Knocking out the Coast's casino industry cost the state about $240,000 a day in lost tax revenues, Patton said. The municipalities of Biloxi and Gulfport and Harrison County lose about $120,000 each day the 11 casinos are closed, he said.

Most of the barges suffered only cosmetic damage, and casino operators were eager to get back in business.

"We're ready to go," Boomtown general manager Wayne Yarbrough said.

"We're getting phone calls like crazy from people out of state asking us if we're open for business," said Imperial Palace spokesman Joe Giardina. "We have employees who have had storm damage who need to work to make money."

Most hourly casino employees are not getting paid while the barges are out of business. The exception is Grand Casinos, which has more than 5,000 workers, some 70 percent of whom punch a time clock.

"We're paying all our associates as if they are still working," Wyre said.

"We should not open until the community is ready," Wyre said, citing including operational traffic signals. "Why put our associates in harm's way?"