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The buzzing saws and pounding hammers from the new project inside the Casino Queen can’t be heard on the gaming floor. But the casino hopes it will draw much-needed attention when the temporary wall comes down and reveals the new sports bar and entertainment venue.

The Casino Queen announced this week it is spending $2.15 million to develop Sevens — a 6,250-square-foot club slated to open around the third quarter of this year. The venue is a reincarnation of Club Sevens, a popular nightspot at the Casino Queen before the casino moved in August 2007 from its riverboat to a new building across the parking lot.

The original club wasn’t relocated to the new building. But with gaming revenue falling, the casino’s marketing director said the new club could prove more important than its predecessor.

The Casino Queen reported $8.1 million in revenue in the first half on 2009, down about 25 percent versus the same period last year, according to figures from the Illinois Gaming Board. Aside from the poor economy, several other factors have affected the casino since moving to the new building, said Todd Ribick, its marketing director.

"I think a lot of the legislative changes have brought some of that about, as far as the nonsmoking bill and Amendment A," Ribick said, referring to the Illinois’ 2008 ban of smoking in casinos and the fall vote that removed Missouri’s $500 loss limit, respectively.

"Those are some things that have made Missouri (casino) properties more attractive," he said

As a result, revenue at the four Missouri casinos in the St color business cards. Louis area has risen about 9 percent in the first half of 2009 compared with the same time last year, according to the Missouri Gaming Commission.

These impacts were fairly predictable, said Richard Thalheimer, head of Thalheimer Research Associates Inc., an economic research and consulting firm specializing in the racing and gaming industries based in Lexington, Ky.

Thalheimer said he has long studied the impact of loss limits and smoking in other states, and the results in Illinois and Missouri hold true to what he would expect.

What’s harder to predict are ways to win back customers. Sevens will take the place of a coffee cafe and a gift shop stationed just inside the casino’s main entrance. A new gift shop also will be constructed.

The new Sevens was not planned as a reaction to the downturn the casino has faced, Ribick said. Casino officials simply felt the new building was missing something, such as a place for sports fans to eat and gather before and after games. The club will feature displays of St. Louis Cardinals memorabilia. But Ribick noted that Sevens won’t be branded as a traditional sports bar, as it will feature space for live musical performances and other high-end touches.

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