WinnaVegas Casino in Sloan is still surrounded by floodwaters of the Missouri River, but it will reopen with the help of some special vehicles. The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors approved a permit Tuesday to allow the Winnebago Tribe that runs the casino to operate amphibious “duck boats” from land near Interstate 29 to the casino.
WinnaVegas interim marketing manager, Deana Whistler, says the duck boats will drive and float for roughly one mile through the water to the moat that surrounds the casino. Whistler says the water isn’t very deep. She says it’s two feet deep right up next to the berm and probably a little deeper in other places. The road to the casino that is under water takes some dips that may make the water three feet deep.
The casino closed June 10th when the Missouri floodwaters rose. Whistler says they’ll be able to get the employees back to work and let people visit and gamble again. She says they patrons will probably be charged some sort of fee to ride the duck boats, but then will get some sort of “kickback” of that fee once they get into the casino.
Whistler says the casino plans to purchase two of the duck boats from Panama City, Florida for roughly $175,000 each. They hope to start reopening the casino on July 27th.
By Jose Cooper, KSCJ, Sioux City