The Sale of the Diamond Jacks Casino Finally Approved

The abandoned Diamond Jacks Casino, located in Bossier City, will finally be sold. Louisiana’s Gaming Commission has finally approved the sale to a gaming company from Mississippi, Foundation Gaming.   

The company hopes that the new casino will be opened by December 2024. This casino is the first one in the Sheveport-Bossier City area, and will be spent about $200 million on the property’s renovation.  

The ambitious plans for renovations:  

Ronnie Johns, the Gaming Commission Chairman, said that everyone was very excited about this – everyone had been waiting for this for a long time, and the plan was really impressive.  

Les McMackin, Foundations Chief Operations and Marketing Operator, said the property is about to be completely renovated.  

He stated: “As you can imagine, the building that was built in 1994 and now has been vacant for the last two years, it’s going to require a lot of the infrastructure to be replaced, repaired, or to just start over again with that.”   

The 26-acre property will be completely rebranded, including the change of name. We still don’t know the company’s new name, but McMackin revealed some unknown facts about the renovations. He spoke about the details regarding the renovations, claiming that the project will include a 47.000 square foot casino, a hotel of 405 rooms, and a minimum of three restaurants. There also will be included a pool, spa, and more exciting features.   

McMackin continued: “That’ll include the sports wagering, the live entertainment events center that will have a capacity of around 300 seats, we’ll have a VIP lounge, we’ll have over a thousand slots, fifty tables, both electronic and live.”   

High expectations from the project:  

This project will significantly contribute to the Bossier City market and the whole community. McMackin said that something fresh and unique has to be provided to the customers, and they can expect a completely customer-friendly experience.  

The goal is to create a lot of space to mingle, so the place will be very open and inviting.  

Greg Guida, Foundation’s Co-chief Executive Officer, commented on the project: “We’ve put together what we believe will be a great project for the market and for the community.”  

The project is fully supported by Bossier City Major Thomas Chandler, Bossier Parish Police Jury, and the Democratic state Representative Sem Jenkins, where the District 2 casino is located.  

Jenkins said he was pleased to hear about the return of the casino, which will improve the Shreveport-Bossier economy. It will open the door for more jobs and enhance tourism, which is always welcomed news.  

In the spring of 2020, Diamond Jacks shut its doors due to the COVID pandemic. The property has been empty ever since, and Peninsula never intended to reopen the casino in Bossier City.  

The first casino in the Shreveport-Bossier market was opened on this property back in 1994.