A Boat In A Moat

Up until this year, casinos in Illinois had been traditional riverboat style boats permanently docked on a river. This summer Casino Queen in East St. Louis, IL will become the state's first gaming facility not actually on a river. Situated 686 feet from the Mississippi River, the new 120,000 square-foot casino is a building atop a barge sitting in water about 10 feet deep -- a casino style known as a "boat in a moat." We stopped at Casino Queen last month and found construction on the new, larger casino to be progressing. They expect the grand opening of the new casino to be in August...and the folks at the casino promise that the air quality will be far superior than it is on the old riverboat. Meanwhile, the old boat is still open for business and is very busy, as usual.