Inside the 75,000 square-foot casino and lobby, the architects selected Hunter Douglas' Torsion-Spring Plank & Tile simulated wood laminate ceiling system. But Lumiere's glowing collar is backlit with 42,550 linear feet of LEDs that can project 16 million colors and any desired array of patterns. Its most dramatic feature, a sculptural yoke that swoops up and over the building, is dwarfed by Eero Saarinen's iconic Gateway Arch, 630 feet high and only half a mile away. It cost $142 million more to build than the Cardinals' new Busch Stadium, opened in 2006. Casino guests never even see the water.ĭesigned by Las Vegas-based Marnell Architecture, the complex delivers Las Vegas-style high-rise bling to the St.
Secured in place by 100 vertical retaining rods, it's said to be seaworthy, but it's not going on any cruises. The building rises several blocks away from the Mississippi river, but the casino floor is actually an eight-foot-thick concrete raft afloat in a basin holding more than 1.5 million gallons of water. Louis's newest gaming palace, just dramatically raised the ante on the riverboat casino scene: it's a $507 million, 24-story, Las Vegas-style complex that incorporates a 'boat,' to technically satisfy Missouri's legal standards for casinos.
