A sure bet
Biloxi hotel expanded to further casino's reach

By Angelle Bergeron

A palm tree was placed on top of the new hotel wing of the Isle of Capri Casino in Biloxi in September and a huge party was held to celebrate the imminent completion of a two-phased $79 million expansion.

Considering that the completed expansion will provide almost double the guestroom capacity, 1,100 new parking spaces and needed meeting space, the casino management had much to celebrate.

The expanded hotel will have nearly 800 rooms, affording the Isle of Capri, which relies heavily on group sales, to extend its market beyond a 200-mi. driving radius, said Rich Westfall, senior director of marketing.

Yates Construction's $50 million, second-phase contract is an 18-month, fast-track project requiring construction of 15 floors, 388 new guest rooms, suites, a 10,000-sq.-ft. multi-purpose room and additional meeting rooms. The project also includes renovations to the existing building, the addition of a Kitt's Kitchen restaurant (a signature Isle of Capri eatery) and expansion of the hotel swimming pool to incorporate a second, elevated pool, waterfall and bar.

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Before Yates' Biloxi office began construction in January, Roy Anderson Corp. of Gulfport completed the first phase of the expansion that included a parking garage on the east side of the property.

"The parking garage is built to accommodate a 500-room tower, so there is more room for expansion," Westfall said. Currently there are no further projects scheduled after completion of phase two in June.

Yates has about 125 workers on-site, including subcontractors such as MCC Mechanical and Haynes Electric, both of Gulfport, and drywall contractor Aladdin Construction Co. Inc. of Biloxi.

Yates project manager Jim Franke, who previously worked on an Isle of Capri project in Bossier City, La., said it's important when working on a construction project around a 24-hour-a-day casino to keep things neat, tight and quiet - and not interfere with business operations.

"I guess the biggest task is material deliveries because we are working on such a tight site," Franke said. The construction area is situated immediately to the right of the main casino entrance. Just a few feet from the main driveway there are cranes lifting heavy materials and workers walking through a patchwork of reinforcing steel.

Working from the bottom up, Yates is using the first and second levels of the hotel for laydown. It coordinates every delivery on an as-need basis.

"Right about the time we started buying things, prices started increasing, particularly for concrete," Franke said. Prices have begun to level off, but on a job with about 16,000 cu. yds. of concrete scheduling pours has required some finesse.

Houston-based Baker Concrete Construction is handling all of the pours and local Gulf Concrete of Biloxi is supplying the ready-mix.

"The concrete is being rationed from some of the European suppliers and, since a floor is approximately 450 to 475 cu. yds. we had to work within their rations to pour one per week," Franke said.

Project superintendent Gary Hartmann said the project took plenty of coordination.

He singled out Baker as being "a key part of the critical path on the structure of the building and those guys are good at what they do. We've been pouring a floor about every six or seven days, weather permitting, and working two shifts."

The cement shortage interfered with several pour days, so Baker project manager Steve Gentry had to find a way to maintain the schedule.

"Seven scheduled pour days were canceled because there wasn't enough cement at the ready mix batch plant," said Bob Nussmeier, director of business development for Baker Concrete. "Gentry made up those days by using form tables."

Floors are typically formed using stick post shoring, which takes more time to remove.

"These 1,200-sq.-ft. tables actually hold to the columns, so there is less shoring to hold up the floor on the horizontal form work and it is much faster to turn," Nussmeier added. By using the tables, Baker crews were able to turn a floor every six days, a process that would normally require eight or nine days.

"These (steel and plywood forms) are bolted right into the cast-in-place concrete columns, and when they are removed cranes take the tables to the next elevation," Nussmeier said.

Pours are done at night because of the intense daytime temperatures in the summer.

"We try to do whatever we can to cooperate with the hotel," Hartmann said. Noisier work is usually done mid-week, to avoid peak times of hotel occupancy.

Westfall said Yates has been "extremely cooperative" in minimizing impact on hotel and casino guests. "They do the concrete after midnight because most of the heavy traffic is abated by then," he said. "The only time it gets a little loud is when they have to bang their forms to break them loose, but they don't do that until after 9 a.m."

The topping out party was originally scheduled for September, but Hurricane Ivan forced the celebration to be pushed back.

"We didn't have any damage per se, just a few things the wind affected," Westfall said. "Obviously, we lost the time, but that's something that can be easily caught up on."

Vincent Creel, public affairs for the City of Biloxi, said the current Isle of Capri project is just the latest development in a rapidly changing Gulf Coast casino market.

"One of the great things about this industry is it is constantly evolving, not only changing its marketing approach but physically changing the facilities," Creel said. "Competition in this industry is great because it makes our market more enticing."

The Hard Rock Casino & Hotel in Biloxi, an $82 million project currently under construction, is expected to open next summer.

"There has also been talk of an expansion at Casino Magic, which adjoins the Isle of Capri property," Creel said. "And there has been a proposal to locate a casino on the Back Bay of Biloxi." The Golden Gulf is currently going through the permitting process in an effort to begin construction by the end of this year.

Treasure Bay Casino in Biloxi also has plans to relocate its casino barge to a new location near its current site and rumors are circulating that a new casino will soon make its home in nearby Hancock County.

Nine casinos are currently doing business in Biloxi and Hard Rock will be the 10th.

"The gaming taxes alone make up one third of our annual city operating budget," Creel said. "When you add sales tax, you're over 58.6 percent. It's a tremendous part of our economy."

Of course, local contractors are happy to see multi-million dollar projects, and the predominantly local subcontractors are equally eager to get a piece of casino projects.

"The impact is not only in actual construction dollars, but we see a boost in employment whenever we see construction," Creel said.

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For updates on other casino expansion plans along Mississippi's Gulf Coast, go to: http://www.gulfcoast.org/play/casinos.html