Belle of Baton Rouge Riverboat Casino Footbridges Collapse in Louisiana

Posted on: April 28, 2025, 09:33h. 

Last updated on: April 28, 2025, 09:42h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More

Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

• The Belle of Baton Rouge footbridges collapsed last Friday
• The footbridges were bridges to nowhere after the riverboat casino set sail in March
• Bally’s is rebranding the casino and hotel

The pedestrian bridges that connected the Belle of Baton Rouge’s land-based hotel and parking garage to its longtime riverboat casino collapsed after officials say a floating buoy between the two walkway overpasses failed.

For three decades, the two footbridges linked the Belle of Baton Rouge’s brick-and-mortar hotel, indoor swimming pool, fitness center, restaurants, and glass-enclosed atrium with the riverboat gaming vessel where about 350 slot machines and 10 live-dealer table games operated.

Opened in September 1994, the riverboat shuttered last October when a temporary casino inside the atrium opened. The four-deck sternwheeler that called a barge just north of the Interstate 10 Horace Wilkinson Bridge home for 30 years was towed away in January to Terrebonne Parish where it was scrapped and recycled.

On Friday, the footbridges fell into the Mississippi River. Local officials say the structure is secure and won’t move further. Security personnel have been placed to keep people off the collapsed walkways.

The buoy was designed to allow the western parts of the walkways to move up and down as the river rose and fell but failed on Friday as the river level topped 40 feet, five feet higher than the 35-foot flood stage.

Bally’s Awaits State Approval

In February, private equity firm Standard General completed its $4.6 billion acquisition of Bally’s Corporation. The hedge fund led by Soo Kim’s Bally’s deal additionally included Queen Casino & Entertainment Inc. and its two Louisiana riverboats — the Belle of Baton Rouge and The Queen Baton Rouge — and DraftKings at Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Ill, and Casino Queen Marquette in Iowa.  

At the Belle, a budget of $141 million has been set. The Belle redo included renovating all 242 guestrooms and rebranding the property to Bally’s.

The Bally’s Baton Rouge Hotel opened last month. The provisional atrium casino, which has about 220 slots and three table games, remains operating as the Belle of Baton Rouge as the Louisiana Gaming Control Board reviews the request to allow the gaming license to be renamed Bally’s. 

Walkway Dismantling

With the Belle of Baton Rouge riverboat no longer docked on the Mississippi, the former footbridges will be dismantled following their collapse.

Following several devastating hurricanes and floods, Louisiana lawmakers in 2018 allowed riverboats to move ashore, so long as the brick-and-mortar facilities remain within 1,200 feet, or about a quarter-mile, of their original barges.