The Queen, $85 million downtown casino, now open
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After an $85 million investment and two years of construction, Baton Rouge’s first land-based casino opened Thursday night.
VIP guests got their first chance to step into The Queen Baton Rouge and see the transformed Hollywood Casino before a scheduled 9 p.m. ribbon cutting.
The slot machines and table games have been taken off of the riverboat casino and put into an expanded atrium.
Work on the expansion started in August 2021, but rising construction costs and the high levels of the Mississippi River delayed the project. Because the casino is close to the levee, work can't go on when the river is over a certain height.
About 33,000 square feet were added to the casino atrium by turning the valet parking area into indoor space. The riverboat's more than 750 slot machines and 18 table games were then moved onto land.
The Queen features a DraftKings sportsbook and Lit, a dedicated smoking patio with a bar and about 100 slot machines. The casino has five restaurants: Shaquille O'Neal's Big Chicken, 3 Woks Noodle Bar, Capitol Coffee Baton Rouge, 1717 and The Loft at 1717.
The expansion of The Queen will create about 100 new jobs.
Plans are to sell the Hollywood Casino riverboat and for Viking River Cruises to use the dock for its Mississippi River voyages.
The Queen Casino & Entertainment, the parent company of the property, is going ahead with moving another downtown riverboat onto land. The company also owns the Belle of Baton Rouge, which has started a $100 million expansion and renovation that will involve moving the slot machines and table games into the casino atrium, adding restaurants and reopening the 250-room hotel. That project is set for completion in fall 2024.
