Alystra says it still plans to expand

Henderson's Alystra casino is closed most of the time and is months behind schedule for its planned expansion.

But the delay has nothing to do with its owner's financial problems, an official said.

Alystra General Manager Phil Rossi said the casino would be expanded as planned, regardless of financial problems facing owner John Connors, brother of tennis star Jimmy Connors.

"At this point that's really irrelevant because there are other investors coming in," said Rossi. "That's not going to affect the project."

The Alystra, 333 W. Sunset Road, currently has a 10,000-square-foot casino and no hotel. The Alystra closed in May to expand its casino to 47,000 square feet and build a 300-room hotel. The plan is still in the cards, said Rossi, though no work has been done.

John and Jimmy Connors recently bought a 15-acre parcel next to the Alystra to give the casino room to expand.

"We have the additional acreage," said Rossi.

The Connors' are now in the final stages of arranging construction financing, Rossi said. But he declined to speculate when construction would commence. In May, the Alystra announced its expansion would be complete by this fall, Rossi said.

"I'm not going to elaborate on anything at this point," said Rossi.

He declined to say who Connors' new partners would be.

According to a report in the Belleville, Ill., News-Democrat, John Connors is facing a number of financial problems, including bank foreclosure on his home, his vacation home, and his tennis club. In addition, Connors' tennis club is being sued by several vendors for $14,500 in past due bills, and Connors is being sued by a St. Louis construction company for $228,500 in unpaid bills, the News-Democrat reported. In June, Wells Fargo Bank sued the Alystra to recoup $147,000 in overdrafts.

Connors did not return calls for comment.

According to Securities and Exchange Commission documents filed by Connors' lendor, Magna Bank, $12.5 million in bad loans were recently written off "in particular to cover potential loss exposure associated with commercial loans to a single borrower."

Magna officials did not return calls for comment. The News-Democrat put the value of Connors' Belleville home and tennis club at $11 million. No estimate was placed on the value of his vacation home in Lake of the Ozarks.

Connors is also being sued for $50 million by a former business partner in a company that eventually became Argosy Gaming Co. The partner, H. Steven Norton, claims Connors failed to fulfill a 1991 promise to make him half-partner in the predecessor company.

The lawsuit has been on-again, off-again since 1993. Norton was president of Argosy until February 1998. Connors was once an Argosy director, and with 9.4 percent of its stock remains the company's largest shareholder. Argosy owns casinos throughout the Midwest and South.

Despite Connors' financial problems, the Alystra will expand and re-open, said Rossi. The casino is opening one day each month to keep its gaming license intact, he said.

Henderson planning officials said they've received no requests or plans for an expansion.

For its part, the state Gaming Control Board is paying close attention to Connors' financial situation.

"We're monitoring the situation," said Greg Gail, chief of the board's audit division. "He's staying in touch with us and vice-versa."

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