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On This Day: 14 October 1972

14-year-old Michael Jackson scored his first solo No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Ben." (Oct. 14)

AP

A new owner for Bossier City's abandoned Diamond Jacks Casino with plans for a $200 million renovation could win final approval at the Louisiana Gaming Commission's December meeting, Chairman Ronnie Johns said.

"It's tentative, but that's the goal if the State Police and attorney general's office complete all of their work in the suitability process," Johns told USA Today Network.

Diamond Jacks has been closed since the spring of 2020, a casualty of what previous owner Peninsula Pacific called the "unexpected impact" of the COVID pandemic.

The dilapidated campus that includes a hotel and riverboat have been vacant ever since.

But Johns said new owner Foundation Gaming, based in Mississippi, intends to completely revamp the property with an investment of up to $200 million.

"I've been very impressed with Foundation, and I feel very confident they will inject new life into the property, which is good for Shreveport-Bossier and for Louisiana," he said.

Johns said Foundation Gaming's new complex will scrap the riverboat model and instead build a new land-based casino along with "a 100% renovation of the hotel, which is definitely needed."

"If it works out in December and the license is transferred they'll be ready to start with an opening date probably targeted for the spring of 2024," he said.

Peninsula never intended to reopen Diamond Jacks in Shreveport.

The company went all in on a bid to use its license to build a $325 million casino resort project in St. Tammany Parish near Slidell, but voters there overwhelmingly rejected the proposal.

"Peninsula bought the property to go to St. Tammany," Johns said. "When that didn't work out they bailed out."

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.