What’s in a name? Two casinos in Louisiana will soon find out, as both recently announced their new names.
Officials at Peninsula Pacific Entertainment said the proposed $325 million casino resort in Slidell, Louisiana will be called Camellia Bay. But whether or not it becomes a reality depends on the November 13 referendum in St. Tammany Parish. The venue would be built at the foot of the Interstate 10 twin spans near Lake Pontchartrain outside Slidell.
Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E) Marketing Director Todd Moyer said company officials sorted through more than 7,000 suggestions for the casino’s names submitted by residents. About 100 included the camellia flower in some way, since Slidell is called the Camellia City. Moyer said P2E liked the idea of paying tribute to the area, and the flowering shrubs will be prominently featured in landscaping around the property. The name Camellia Bay was suggested by Kimberly Frady, who won a prize of $5,000. Frady, a nurse, works at Slidell Memorial Hospital Cancer Center.
The naming contest is part of P2E’s promotional efforts to get out the votes in November, and to make sure those votes are for the casino. Meanwhile, casino opponents have been working to stop the casino through lawsuits, appearing at local government meetings and lining up some local officials to speak against the project.
A vote of approval would cancel St. Tammany Parish voters’ rejection of video poker and riverboat gambling in 1996.
In Lake Charles, the Isle of Capri Lake Charles, damaged by Hurricane Laura one year ago, will reopen as a larger, land-based venue in fall 2022, with a new name: Horseshoe Casino Lake Charles. The facility has been closed since August 2020. In December, 336 employees were laid off.
Parent company Caesars Entertainment said the $112.7 million venue will offer more than 60,000 square feet of gambling space, compared to the Isle’s 45,000 square feet. The new casino will feature 1,000 slot machines and table games, a World Series of Poker room and a Caesars Sportsbook plus a Brew Brothers Tap House.
Caesars officials said the expansion project will create more than 300 construction jobs.
Isle was the first Louisiana riverboat casino approved by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board to move ashore in December 2019.
