Pinnacle Entertainment plans 150-room, $20 million hotel at Boomtown Casino in Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. - Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment said Tuesday it will be starting construction on a 150-room hotel at the site of its Boomtown Casino in Jefferson Parish.

Officials say construction of the $20 million development in the New Orleans suburb of Harvey is expected to begin in September and should be completed in late 2013.

Boomtown Vice-President and General Manager Barry Regula said he expects the hotel-casino combination to provide the best entertainment experience on the Mississippi River's west bank.

"The addition of a hotel to Boomtown allows us to grow our customer base in the market through enhanced guest offerings and also increases options for current Pinnacle guests who come to visit the New Orleans area," Regula said.

Pinnacle spokeswoman Kerry Andersen said the casino, which opened in 1994 and has more than 1,400 slot machines and 32 table games, is the only one of the company's four Louisiana properties that isn't operating with an attached hotel.

"We already create a significant amount of tax dollars for the parish, and this is the first significant hotel construction on the west bank in a few years," she said.

The casino also features a nightclub and dining venues. The development will create about 50 permanent jobs, the company said.

The Lemoine Co. of Lafayette has been hired as general contractor for the project.

Jefferson Parish Councilman Ricky Templet said Pinnacle has always been a benefactor to the parish with the jobs and infrastructure it provides to the community.

"In a time when many communities are struggling, we are pleased to work closely with the Boomtown management team on this exciting hotel project bringing new jobs and continued economic development to the west bank," Templet said.

Pinnacle owns and operates six casinos in Louisiana, Missouri and Indiana.