Treasure Chest casino deep into $100 million move from lake to land

At the Treasure Chest casino in Kenner the other day, April Winn, 81, put $100 into a Fortune Mint slot machine and began pressing its buttons.

It was a slow morning on the gambling boat. There were only about three dozen customers on the main deck, all seated at electronic wagering devices, none at the table games. A few feet from Winn, amid softly flashing lights, a middle-aged man played two Triple Diamond slots simultaneously, one with each hand.

After a few minutes, Winn rose and extracted a ticket showing her balance: $100.17.

“I don’t think I like that one,” she said, moving with the aid of a walker toward the lobby. Through the window there, she could see across the Lake Pontchartrain levee to the much bigger Treasure Chest, taking shape on land.

“They’re going to have newer machines,” she said hopefully.

'Excited to be on land'

As a Kenner resident, Winn is part of the core market for the Treasure Chest, which draws an estimated 85% of its customers from within 150 miles of its berth and, like four other Louisiana floating casinos, is moving onto land.

Construction began in February on a $100 million project that will nearly double the Treasure Chest’s gambling space, incorporate four restaurants and create almost 10,000 square feet of flexible space for conventions, meetings or live entertainment. In May, the builders held a topping off ceremony, to mark placement of the final steel beam, and now are moving to enclose, equip and furnish it.

The boat, which opened in 1994, has one restaurant and no flexible event space.

Unlike some destination casinos in the Lake Charles and Shreveport areas, which draw heavily from Texas, the Treasure Chest has no golf course, swimming pool, spa or hotel — although a Hilton Garden Inn stands nearby. And that’s fine with the owner, Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming Corp.

“We’re just excited to be on land,” Treasure Chest marketing director Rodney Miller said. “We’re happy to be in Kenner, to be where we are. We’re a neighborhood casino.”

Land ho

It’s a niche property, not on a major thoroughfare and not necessarily trying to compete with the big Harrah’s casino on Poydras Street in New Orleans or the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s gambling houses.

“That puts the Treasure Chest and the Boomtown over in Harvey at some disadvantage,” said Ronnie Johns, who chairs the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.

In the fiscal year that ended June 30, Treasure Chest reported net gambling proceeds of $9.7 million, up 11.6% from the previous year. The total ranked it eighth among the 13 Louisiana floating casinos that were operating in fiscal 2022. Neither the Treasure Chest nor the others, collectively, have returned to their pre-pandemic business levels, according to Gaming Control Board reports.

Louisiana legalized casino gambling in 1991, and limited the number of paddlewheel casinos to 15. The boats were supposed to sail regularly but didn’t, so the Legislature in 2001 eliminated that charade. Lawmakers decided in 2018 that they could move onto land.

The first to do so, in December, was the Horseshoe in Westlake, and the next likely will be the Hollywood in Baton Rouge, this fall. The Treasure Chest could be the third. Also going ashore are the Belle in Baton Rouge and Diamond Jacks in Bossier City.

Johns said he’s in discussions with three more about the possibility of moving to land.

The local rake

For a succession of Kenner elected officials, the Treasure Chest has been a welcome addition to city coffers. In the most recent fiscal year, it paid the state $20.9 million in taxes and the city $3.3 million in fees.

It employed the full-time equivalent of 244 people, at a payroll of $11.8 million, according to Gaming Control Board reports. Peak employment, in 1997, was 1,200, before Boyd Gaming bought out the local partnership that owned 85% of the shares.

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The new Treasure Chest is being built on part of the current casino’s expansive parking lot, on the dry side of the lake levee, and is expected to open in spring 2024. When its does, customers can park close to the building, eliminating the need for shuttle vans.

Winn, a widow who suffered a stroke 11 years ago but still drives herself, said she’s looking forward to it. She said she visits the Kenner casino regularly, mostly to get out of the house and pass the time somewhere else.

How often? Weekly?

No, she said: “I have to wait until I get my Social Security check.”