The Treasure Chest in Kenner, La., which opened in 1994, recently moved from a riverboat on Lake Ponchartrain to a new $100 million land-based venue featuring a 48,000-square-foot casino on one floor instead of three, plus four new restaurants and more than 8,000 square feet of convention space.
Owned by Boyd Gaming, the facility will allow smoking but Treasure Chest Director of Marketing Rodney Miller said it will have higher ceilings and a better ventilation system than the riverboat. Also, Miller said, unlike the riverboat that only offered a deli, the new casino will have a steakhouse, café, and sports bar and grill.
Over the years, the Treasure Chest has generated significant revenue for the city of Kenner and the Kenner Police Department.
According to official data, the city gained $3 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. In his budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, Mayor Michael Glaser said he anticipates the new land-based casino will be “a catalyst for a surge in economic development, increasing sales tax and increased riverboat fees, upon which Kenner heavily depends.”
The Treasure Chest is the most recent operation to become land-based, following the state legislature’s vote in 2018 allowing riverboat casinos to move ashore.
