Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Under Construction

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Biloxi broke ground February 10, 2004, and is scheduled to open summer 2005. The $235 million resort will feature a 306-room hotel, approximately 50,000 square feet of gambling space, a parking garage, pool and spa, buffet, steakhouse, grill and Hard Rock Café, a top floor nightclub and a Hard Rock Live club, which is expected to attract national and local performers. Contact: Joe Billhimer, general manager, 228-374-7625

Silver Slipper Breaks Ground

The Coast’s newest casino project, the Silver Slipper, broke ground January 2005. The $80 million project will feature the Coast’s only riverboat casino. The four-level anchored riverboat will have 24,000 square feet of gaming, a poker room, coinless slot machines and a casino bar with wide screen televisions and video poker. Adjacent to the riverboat will be 45,000-square-foot complex with restaurant, buffet, bar and outdoor patio. Silver Slipper is expected to open November 2005.

Isle of Capri Casino Resort Expands

The Isle of Capri is currently working on a $170 million expansion of its Biloxi property. The $79 million hotel expansion, scheduled to open in spring 2005, will feature a 400-room hotel, a 12,000 sq. ft. multi-purpose center, up to 22,000 total square feet of flexible meeting space, a Caribbean-theme casual dining restaurant and rum bar, and a pool and spa. Plans are also underway for the Isle’s 10-year-old gaming barge to be replaced with a new $90 million casino that will have more gaming space and several new amenities. Contact: Karen Surber, public relations manager, 228-436-7875

Tom Fazio Designs Beau Rivage’s New Golf Course

After much anticipation, Beau Rivage Resort & Casino has announced a new golf course named Fallen Oak designed by golf architect Tom Fazio. The more than $30 million project will be located on 510 acres with pecan orchards, large oaks and lakes adjacent to the DeSoto National Forest. Fallen Oaks will have water features, 10 bridges and concealed paths for carts, and a large clubhouse reminiscent of an Acadian-style Southern mansion which will feature a pro-shop, lounge and restaurant. The course is scheduled to be open for play February 2006. Contact: Mary Cracchiolo, public relations manager, 228-386-7134.

Grand Casinos Upgrade Amenities, Add Meeting Space

The Oasis pool at the Grand Casino Gulfport Oasis Spa & Resort has new features just in time for summer fun. In addition to the lazy river, guests can now enjoy a splash pad water fountain feature as well as the new Oasis Island Bar. Tropical Nights at the Oasis will also begin this summer featuring dancing, entertainment and adult libations. Coyote Concert Nights with national recording artists begin this summer at Wild Coyotes nightclub at Grand Casino Biloxi and in July Coyote Kate’s Tex/Mex restaurant opened. In November 2003, Grand Casino Gulfport opened the Beachview Room, which added 3,500 square feet of meeting and special event space. Contact: Joely Pique, communications manager, 228-604-5259

Boomtown Casino Moves West

Boomtown Casino in Biloxi has purchased adjacent property and plans to move its casino barge west in early 2005. The move, a $20 million endeavor, will extend Boomtown’s presence across three lots on Bayview Avenue, which is being turned into a major thoroughfare, and increase parking by a few hundred spaces. Additionally, plans for a two-story parking garage are under consideration. Contact: Chett Harrison, director of marketing, 228-436-7508

Convention Center Expansion Ready to Go

Following approval of an expansion referendum by Harrison County voters in the November 2004 election, the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center will undergo a $68 million expansion adding up to 200,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting and exhibition space and increasing the broad appeal of Mississippi’s Gulf Coast as a prime meetings and conventions destination. The expanded Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center is targeted to be open in 2007. Contact: Bill Holmes, executive director, Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center, 228-594-3700

Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport Expands

By January 2005, the number of total airline seats to Mississippi’s Gulf Coast will have already increased by 20%. Additionally, increasing terminal size from 92,000 square feet to 165,000 sq. ft., the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport will provide room for three new carriers, ultimately further increasing the number of airline seats to Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. The $56 million expansion began earlier this year and will be complete by 2006. Contact: Ken Spirito, assistant executive director, Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, 228-863-5951

First Phase of Development for New Ohr Museum of Art Begins

Work towards the new $29 million Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi progressed with the museum groundbreaking. Designed by legendary architect Frank Gehry, the complex will include a George Ohr art pottery gallery, an African American art gallery, an educational pavilion, and a contemporary art gallery. The first two buildings are expected to open late 2005 with the rest coming on line in 2007. Also included as part of the museum campus is the Pleasant Reed House, which has been open for tours since spring 2003. Circa 1887, the Pleasant Reed House is one of the last remaining homes built and owned by a former slave. Contact: Shelly Becker, director of marketing, Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art,

228-374-5547

Mississippi Sound Historical Museum Opened

The Mississippi Sound Historical Museum opened in Gulfport in March 2004. Exhibits explain the historical significance of the Mississippi Sound as a key transportation artery for the numerous Southeast industries that relied on regional natural resources like timber and charcoal. Another component of Mississippi Sound Maritime Historical Foundation is a community sail training school that will use a fish-class sloop popular in the early 20^th century. The sloop site is currently under construction in Gulfport Harbor next to the Ship Island Ferry. Contact: David Andre, museum director, at 228-863-5998.

Chef Emeril Lagasse Kicks Up Fundraising a Notch at Lynn Meadows

Emeril Lagasse and his wife Alden, a native of Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, have begun a series of fundraising events to generate $2 million for the construction of the WINGS Performing Arts & Education Center at the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center in Gulfport. The WINGS Performing Arts Program currently features students writing, performing and producing at least three theatrical productions a year. It also offers youngsters ages 3 to 18 lessons in voice, dance, violin, guitar, design and stagecraft. LMDC is regarded as one of the top 50 children’s museums in the United States. Contact: Mary Anne Caldwell, marketing manager, 228-897-6039

Family Water Park Coming Spring 2005

Gulf Islands Water Park, a $9.7 million family attraction in Gulfport, is scheduled to open spring 2005 with a wave pool, lazy river, tub slides, and a Master Blaster water-propelled roller coaster. Seasonal hours of operation will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information call 504-277-3553.

Beauvoir Gets Mississippi Gulf Coast Botanical Gardens

An award-winning landscape architect firm recently presented master plans for the Gulf Coast Botanical Gardens at Beauvoir. Beauvoir, the last home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, features the Davis home, the Davis Presidential Library, Confederate Cemetery and 52-acres of beach front estate waiting to be transformed under the guidance of Marshall, Tyler and Rausch of Pittsburgh, PA, best known for their work with the Missouri Botanical Gardens. At least eight separate garden areas including an ancient moss-draped oaks shade retreat, an aquatic plant lagoon and the 19^th century garden and grape arbor designed by Davis’s wife Varina, as well as a visitors center and tea room, are included in the design. The $35 million project will be completed at various stages over the next eight years. Contact: Jennifer Myers, tours and programs coordinator, Beauvoir, 228-388-9074

Plans for I-10 Space Park Attraction Announced

Entertainment, education and NASA science are the concepts behind the $35 million space attraction scheduled top open on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast in early 2007, with formal groundbreaking in 2005. Edwin Schlossberg has been named designer of Infinity at NASA Stennis Space Center. Several hands-on exhibitions and exciting simulators including one that recreates the test firing of a Space Shuttle engine complete with mock blast are planned. The attraction will blend components of StennisSphere, the current visitor attraction at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center. Once combined and located at the new site near the welcome center off Interstate 10, the new attraction will feature a restaurant, large screen theater, lunar module, Mississippi heritage display, and items from past space voyages. Contact: Cindy Duvall, public relations, The Godwin Group, 228-388-8511

Architects Draw Plans For Point Cadet Revitalization

After a land-use study for Point Cadet, the eastern gateway to Biloxi, architects have drawn plans for a $60 million expansion to J.L. Scott Marine Education Center featuring a tropical rain forest, three-story waterfall and exhibits about the deep sea. Space will also be available for a restaurant and small gift shop. An additional $17 million is proposed for a two-deck parking facility, a grassy amphitheater with views of Deer Island, boardwalks and landscaping. By the end of the year, a fund raising plan will be in place through the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast, which operates the marine center.

Marine Education Center and Museum Focuses on Gulf Research

The Center for Marine Education and Research broke ground December 2004 at Bernard Bayou in Gulfport. The 12,000 square foot facility will be a catalyst for marine science research in the Southeast region. Working with a $3 million grant from the National Marine Fisheries Service, the non-profit mammal research center will host marine research projects and serve as a rehabilitation center for sick and injured animals rescued from the Gulf of Mexico. The center will also feature labs, classrooms, quarantine facilities and a museum on 12 acres of waterfront land. Gulfport is an ideal location for such a center as the coastal waters off Mississippi are home to the nation’s largest dolphin populations. Contact: Mobi Solangi, President, Center for Marine Education and Research, 228-864-2511