Wednesday, March 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Hilton wants to build its own casino and hotel complex downriver from Harrah's at the Barnwell Center if it moves the Flamingo Casino from New Orleans this year, Mayor Bo Williams said Tuesday following discussions with both companies.
"They want their own hotel, their own identity," Williams said. "They would like their own location versus the joint relationship."
Hilton's change in plans could put its move to Shreveport in jeopardy and end the possibility of a thousand more casino jobs coming to Shreveport-Bossier City.
When Hilton obtained state approval to move to Shreveport, a number of conditions were placed on the relocation, including the fact that it would dock near or adjacent to Harrah's.
State regulators must approve any change in berth site, and the state gaming board likely will require the move to be approved by local voters.
"If they're going to move that boat, they're going to have to come through us," said Louisiana Gaming Control Board chairman Hilary Crain.
"If it's a change of berth, they'd have to be approved all over again," Crain said. "That means they have to have an election. As far as I am concerned, that's the law. We approved one berth, and if you move away from that berth, that's another berth."
The board approved the Hilton's relocation to Shreveport in October before a law went into effect requiring local voters to approve any expansion of gambling in their parish.
Hilton's board of directors is expected to take up the Shreveport issue Thursday, Williams said.
A spokeswoman for the company said she knew nothing about the issue and declined to discuss the matter.
Hilton would still like to join up with Harrah's if it can't get approval from the gaming board for a change in berth site, Williams said.
Harrah's officials declined comment on Hilton's plan.
But Harrah's sent a Feb. 26 letter to Hilton threatening to pull out of the project if it didn't have a commitment from Hilton by March 5.
"While we believe the proposed joint venture will give our respective companies a sustainable advantage in the marketplace, we are not prepared to wait any longer in developing further our project," the letter from Harrah's executive vice president Colin V. Reed stated.
In the letter, Harrah's threatened to pursue its own hotel project and end its agreement to hire displaced employees from the Flamingo at the land-based casino in New Orleans.
Hilton's move to the Barnwell Center is not an easy one because Harrah's stills holds exclusive rights to operate along the Shreveport riverfront.
The city worked out a deal last summer in which Harrah's would surrender those rights in exchange for a lower city tax rate, but the agreement hasn't been submitted to the Shreveport City Council for approval.
Williams negotiated a 50-year lease arrangement with Hilton to dock its casino at the Barnwell Center. The company would pay the city $4 million for the relocation and reconstruction of the Barnwell Center at an unspecified site.
Hilton also would get the two lots between Expo Hall and the Shreveport Civic Center Complex, where the company could build a 750-car parking garage and 300-room hotel.
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