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CANCAN CASINO


CI: What will be in that 18 acres? That’s quite a


large site. GT: Eighteen acres is a good-sized site; we’ll have


two hotels, one on top of the casino itself and one freestanding French-motif design hotel. There will be 550 rooms in total, with 250 above the casino and 300 in the standalone. We’ll have 100,000 square feet of retail space, with dining and entertainment venues. The shopping will be an outside promenade, with facades to remind you of being in a French village; the hotel will have that same feel. Both hotels will be four-star quality. We also have a freestanding, non-denominational wedding chapel. After the storm there were not many places to get married here, so that will be providing an important service – and of course we can provide the reception on the property. We’ll have a 2,000-space garage too. It’s a good- sized project.


CI: What about the casino gaming area? GT: It’s a 60,000 square foot casino, with 46 table games, plus 16 poker tables and 1,800 slots.


CI: What will the city be putting in the


remaining 180+ acres around you? GT: Well, in the Entertainment Zone, we know


there will be an aquarium, probably some other hotels – it’s still in the early stages right now though.


CI: The impression we got post-Katrina was that


the area affected was quite poor in terms of salary level. In terms of staffing, both when building and when it’s up and running, will you be employing many locals? GT: We expect to hire local employees, and also because there will be 1500 to 2000 jobs, we hope that people who were here before the storm and haven’t perhaps returned yet, will have the opportunity to move back.


CI: Will this be a destination resort, or is it aiming for a locals market? GT: We think this will be a destination. We feel that with the addition of all that retail space, choice of hotel and the overall design, we will be a destination


JULY-AUGUST 2011 35


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