Vicksburg could have a fifth casino in 18 months as a construction go-ahead has been received for Riverwalk Casino and Hotel.

The project had been on the drawing board since 2005 and has received the state OK to begin construction.

Markings indicating soil borings have cropped up just north of Rainbow Casino at the Riverwalk site. In addition to construction clearance, developers also received approval to extend site approval.

&#8220It made sense to get it extended for another two years,” said Jackson attorney John Maxey, legal counsel for the development group.

Two other projects are in various preconstruction phases. Both are also south of the river bridges.

Four casinos opened in Vicksburg after gaming was legalized in Mississippi River and Gulf Coast counties in the early 1990s and Warren County voters agreed to development in a 1992 referendum.

Officials of the Mississippi Gaming Commission assured work on Riverwalk would begin by July, said Allen Godfrey, the commission’s deputy director.

The project, which was originally proposed as Magnolia Hills Resort and Pot of Gold Casino, faced a July deadline for having its financing plan approved by the commission, a third step in obtaining a casino license in Mississippi.

Because the site is in the City of Vicksburg, zoning approval must be obtained and plans must meet conditions of the city’s comprehensive gaming ordinance. Riverwalk has met those tests.

Projects still pending are one by Minnesota-based Lakes Entertainment and another by Denver-based developer Paul Bunge.

Lakes’ unnamed $200 million casino received an extension until 2009 to prove its financing ability to the commission. Bunge’s proposed casino and golf course complex, Mississippi Bluffs, was approved for a site change to allow its vessel to sit on pilings and has until 2008 to show its ability to begin construction.

Reached Tuesday, Maxey said the Riverwalk group, headed by onetime Rainbow developer and refinery owner John A. Barrett Jr. and New York investment banker Lee Seippel, had higher construction costs than expected, which played into the group’s explanation for a site approval extension and has pumped up the cost of the project from $42 million to more than $100 million.

A tentative opening date is set for October 2008, Maxey said.

In January, a group headed by Chicago real estate magnate Neil Bluhm was added as a secondary partner, giving the project more financial muscle.

Now a majority equity holder, the group, High River Gaming, will own 70 percent of the project, said company official Greg Carlin.

Carlin said the scope of the project has not changed, with 80 hotel rooms and 800 slot machines still planned. He downplayed industry analysts’ assessment of Vicksburg as a &#8220topped out” casino market, one which will be home to seven casinos if all three developments are built.

&#8220I’m always surprised at how robust these markets are,” Carlin said.

The Vicksburg market started when the Isle of Capri opened in August 1993. Of four original developments, Ameristar and Rainbow remain. Harrah’s sold to Horizon in 2003 and the Isle was sold to Legends Gaming. The name was changed to DiamondJacks Casino and Hotel in July.

Rainbow has been listed for sale since October by its parent company, Bally Technologies.