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KENNER, La. (WGNO) — The Treasure Chest Casino in Kenner is coming ashore.

On Wednesday, the owners of the casino, Boyd Gaming, along with local officials, gathered at Chateau Golf & Country Club for the announcement.

“The unveiling of the all-new Treasure Chest: a bigger and better entertainment facility than ever before,” remarked Boyd Gaming President and CEO Keith Smith as he made its introduction.

The plans for the new Treasure Chest Casino, which will be built in the current parking lot located in front of the riverboat, were made possible by the 2018 legislation, which allowed the state’s riverboat casinos to move onto land.

“The plans were a little bit delayed by the pandemic as a lot of things were, but we’re excited to finally be able to move forward with this,” said David Strow, vice president of corporate communications for Boyd Gaming. “This is really going to take Treasure Chest to another level.”

Treasure Chest, which is already a big economic driver for the City of Kenner, is expected to generate even more money with the new building.

“This will also bring us from $4.5 million to probably about $5.5 million in revenue to the City of Kenner. That’s outstanding,” said Kenner Mayor Ben Zahn. “[We’re] also working with them to help with our tourism.”

The 90-million-dollar project will include all sorts of new amenities, like a sports betting section, a steakhouse and a sports bar and grill.

Some of the casino’s loyal patrons are happy about the news because they say the riverboat casino is starting to show its age.

“It would be nice to have a new facility here that would be updated, upgraded, and maybe a little larger,” said Johnny Gomilla, who frequents Treasure Chest. “It’d be good.”

However, there is one thing customers hope stays the same.

“I hope that when they build it, they will make allowances for handicap parking because the way it’s set up now, if you’re not in a handicap vehicle, it’s quite a chair to get here from the parking lot,” said Gomilla.

Crews are expected to break ground later this year, and the casino is expected to open in late 2023.