Isle of Capri afloat following flood
July 2, 2008
After more than a month of
being sidelined by floodwaters, the Isle of Capri Casino in Natchez, Miss. is
back open for business.
The property reopened Monday, May 12
after a week’s worth of cleanup, including removing walls of sandbags that had
been put in place to prevent further flooding. About six inches of silt and
other debris was also removed.
The Isle of Capri’s patrons,
many of whom live in the region and have followed the property’s progress
daily, were eager to see the reopening day arrive — a sentiment echoed by Isle
executives.
“It feels wonderful,” Interim General Manager
John Moran told the Natchez Democrat of
the reopening. “It’s a beautiful day, I couldn’t have asked for a prettier day
to re-open.”
With the two streets that provide the only
access to the Isle of Capri property — D.A. Biglane and Silver Street — now
cleared of water and debris and reopen, Natchez City Engineer David Gardner
told the Democrat it was the casino’s call on when to reopen. Neither the city
or Isle of Capri are strangers to dealing with flooding issues along the
Mississippi River.
“This particular go-around we worked with
the casino closer than we have in the past,” he said. “It’s proven to work a
lot better. I like the way we did it this year.”
He added
that Isle took charge of much of the cleanup after the waters had receded, but
that there are still a few small tasks that the city’s Public Works department
had to handle.
Isle closed its property when waters reached
a height of 55.5 feet.
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