Quote:
Originally Posted by Velastor
Hopefully the meeting with the execs will go over well so the public can see these plans. If they get the same group that remolded the IP, we can expect great things because the IP went from crap to on level with the Beau.
|
I agree. The IP recently opened a portion of their land based casino and in an interview on the early edition of WLOX News yesterday, John Lucas said that more land base gaming and restaurants will be opening by Memorial Day. He said that the show room will soon double in size from 700 seats to more than 1400 seats and that the property across Caillavett Street will eventually, in phase II, be home to a second hotel tower, parking garage, retail and convention center. The following is an interview with John Lucas by the SunHerald on the IP's 10th year anniversary.
Posted on Sat, Dec. 29, 2007
IP's 10th year a new beginning
By MARY PEREZ
meperez@sunherald.com
BILOXI -- Hammers and drills heard around the property are evidence the 10th anniversary is another growing year for IP Casino Resort Spa.
On Dec. 30, 1997, the first guests through the doors of the Imperial Palace after months of delays found Las Vegas on the Coast with chandeliers, marble floors, oriental art and gangster Al Capone's 1930 Cadillac V16 limousine.
Trustee Jeffrey Cooper was there as an auditor on opening night. "It was like a circus," he said. The property was still being inspected and no one was sure when it would open.
"People were waiting at the front," he said, and he remembers they swarmed in to play the cash slot machines, which made a huge racket.
General Manager Jon Lucas was hired two months before Hurricane Katrina came ashore and shut down the casino industry. The Back Bay location of the Imperial Palace proved lucky and the IP was the first casino to reopen, Dec. 22, 2005.
Lucas said they looked at what was absolutely necessary to get back into business. "At the same time, we wanted to remodel or renovate away from the Asian theme and go to a more contemporary theme," he said.
Katrina gave them an opportunity, and Cooper said, "How often do you get to make a first impression twice?"
The IP, now operated by the Engelstad Trust, is building back bigger and better, said Lucas. On Christmas Eve a small section of land-based slots opened; in mid-May more of the land-based casino will debut, along with an Asian restaurant, video poker bar and a small shop. "It will just really transform that second floor," he said, "when you get off the parking-garage elevators into a really beautiful area."
Also included in Phase III is remodeling the ballrooms and showroom and adding another meeting room.
"We believe strongly in non-gaming amenities," Lucas said, and the IP plans to offer more entertainment in addition to its spa and restaurants.
"I wish Ralph were alive to see it," Cooper said. Ralph Engelstad, a builder and Las Vegas casino operator, spent $300 million to open the Imperial Palace. He moved in used slots and furniture to save money but Cooper said the resort was built to cater to both average gamblers and high rollers. It now has penthouse suites with designer furniture and high-limit tables.
"In gaming, you can't stand still" or people will stop coming, Cooper said. The master plan includes a hotel tower, new convention space and possibly bowling lanes and movie theaters.
"We can talk about all the bricks and sticks and all the renovations we've done. But in the end the biggest compliment that we get is about our people," said Lucas. When he was hired he vowed to employees, " 'Believe me when I tell you we will give you a place you will be proud of working.' I think we delivered on that."