Gaming panel gives golf-course developer approval for casino.

The soon-to-be renamed Isle of Capri Casino & Hotel in Vicksburg moved closer to its anticipated transformation Thursday, as its new ownership group was licensed by state regulators to operate in Mississippi.

Also approved was a 40-acre site on the river side of Warrenton Road as suitable for a separate casino project still in the concept phase.

Legends Gaming of Mississippi, a subsidiary of Frankford, Ill.-based Legends Gaming LLC, plans to rename Vicksburg’s oldest casino DiamondJacks Casino and Hotel upon the company’s closing on the property July 31, less than six months after its $240 million deal to purchase the Isle’s casino properties in Vicksburg and Bossier City.

Legends’ pending purchase also includes the Isle of Capri RV Park.

Mississippi Bluffs Development LLC sailed through a question-and-answer session on its site with the Mississippi Gaming Commission. Last week, the group cleared a hurdle with the city Board of Zoning Appeals by winning a special exception.

Much of the group’s dialogue with the commission dealt with whether the acreage planned for a casino is far enough away from the portions of the former Vicksburg Chemical plant that were contaminated.

&#8220Is the 40 acres near the part that was contaminated?” chairman Jerry St. Pe’ asked Denver-based lead developer Paul Bunge.

&#8220Not even close,” Bunge said in response.

The next step for Mississippi Bluffs’ casino plan will be another appearance before the city, this time to present a more developed site plan.

A golf course developed by golfing legend Hale Irwin’s design firm and space for shopping are also planned for parts of the property formerly owned by the chemical company, with the golf course said to be the likeliest of the two.

Site approval is the first of three phases for licensing casino ventures in Mississippi. The second is a more detailed site development plan. After a group is given two years to do so, it must present a financial package to the commission for approval. A license is then issued.

As for Legends, it will be the first completed venture for the fledgling company, formed in 2004 by three grizzled veterans of the gaming industry. They were licensed by the Louisiana State Gaming Control Board Tuesday to run Isle’s riverboat property in Bossier City. That one will be called DiamondJacks Casino and Resort.

Its principal partners held an informal meet-and-greet at Farradday’s with a group of local government officials and some of the 525 or so Isle employees they plan to keep, including general manager Kim Tullos, to talk about changes big and small the trio has in store for Vicksburg’s oldest casino property.

&#8220I think people will like what they see,” said Michael E. Kelly, president and chief executive officer for Legends.

The transition will start small, Kelly said, with the closing of the casino’s doors for about eight hours the morning of July 31 to remove all items on the site with the Isle’s logo, such as tables inside and the signs leading to the parking lot outside.

Bigger changes will come in the six months leading up to the tentative opening date of January 2007. The land-based pavilion and barge will be renovated to accommodate 24,000 square feet of space with 809 slot machines and 20 table games.

The buffet area and restaurant will give way to more of a &#8220steakhouse feel,” Kelly said, with the wall and carpet colors changing to &#8220darker earth tones” of brown, maroon and hunter green. Windows separating Farradday’s from the buffet area will come down in order to serve more people. Hotel renovations will remain cosmetic in nature.

Frequent players who still have valid standing with all of Isle’s promotions will still have them honored at the new casino, Kelly said.

&#8220We want both of them to reflect its surroundings,” said G. Dan Marshall, chief operating officer and chief financial officer for Legends. &#8220We want it to be a clean comfortable environment.”

Likewise to that end, the Bossier City property will feature more poolside-themed amenities, such as a spa, Kelly said.

Tullos, general manager of the Isle of Capri in Vicksburg since 2000, worked for Kelly when he managed Fitzgerald’s Casino in Tunica. She said that familiarity, coupled with the attention to employee and customer needs the new owners have shown, will make for a seamless transition.

&#8220Many times when this happens, it’s not so smooth. But they have helped me and the employees think of what can be done to make it even better for the customers,” Tullos said.

&#8220I’ve been employee-sensitive in every venture I’ve done,” chairman William J. McEnery said.

To that end, Legends has sweetened the pot of benefits to its work force. In addition to being kept on, an employee making a contribution to a 401(k) retirement plan will see the company match increase from 25 to 50 cents for every $1.

Lower-cost health insurance and dental plans are also in the offing for the people who will wear the darker-hued uniforms of DiamondJacks.

&#8220We have improved the benefits and will surprise them with more on July 31,” Kelly said.

In 1993, Isle of Capri was the first casino to open in Vicksburg, three years after gambling was legalized for the state.

Its license to operate here is its first as a company, but its three principals have nearly five decades of combined experience in the industry.

McEnery, 64, was a founding partner of Argosy Gaming Company in 1993. For two years before, he was the financial backer of the first licensed casino in Illinois, the Alton Belle Casino in Alton, Ill.

McEnery left Argosy in 2000, then founded Empress River Entertainment Corp., the parent company of casinos in Joliet, Ill., and Hammond, Ind.

Kelly, 43, a Philadelphia, Pa., native, has 23 years of casino management experience, including stints at Harrah’s Entertainment Co., Fitzgerald’s in Tunica, the Empress property in Joliet and the Majestic Star Casino in Black Hawk, Colo.

Marshall, 61, was a stock broker for 28 years before serving on the board of Argosy along with McEnery from its 1993 inception to 2004. He held executive positions with six Argosy-owned casinos in as many states, one of which was the Belle of Baton Rouge that Argosy renamed.