Treasure Bay to Build St. Lucia´s First Casino

St. Lucian authorities granted a gaming license for the island´s first casino, tentatively scheduled to open in December in Gros Islet near Pigeon Island north of Castries.

The casino will be open to visitors only as current legislation on St. Lucia bars residents from using the facility.

The Treasure Bay Corp., a casino management company headquartered in Biloxi, Miss., will own and manage the stand-alone facility, which will feature approximately 300 slot machines and 20 gaming tables, according to Lee Ann Hunter, CFO.

“St. Lucia granted Treasure Bay the casino license last fall,” Hunter said. “We purchased the land in January and will start building very soon. We want to get it open before the Cricket World Cup in St. Lucia next spring.”

Treasure Bay leases and manages several other casinos in the Caribbean, including the Divi Carina Bay Casino in St. Croix, the Flamenco Casino in Bonaire and the Alhambra Casino in Aruba. The firm also owns and operates a casino in Biloxi, which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina last fall and has not reopened.