Former Lawrenceburg Casino Riverboat To Become Alabama’s Largest Artificial Reef
Posted on: August 8, 2025, 02:33h.
Last updated on: August 8, 2025, 02:33h.
- A former Indiana riverboat is set to become an artificial reef in Alabama
- The former Argosy Lawrenceburg Casino has called Alabama home since 2018
- Artificial reefs promote marine life and provide coastal protection
A former casino riverboat that operated in Indiana along the Ohio River for more than a decade is set to become the largest artificial reef off Alabama’s Gulf Coast.
Alabama Marine Resources tells WRKG News 5, a CBS News affiliate, that a former riverboat casino that’s been docked for years at the Bayou La Batre City Docks is being prepped for sinking.
The BLB City Docks, located west of Mobile Bay just east of the Louisiana border, are home to two former riverboat casinos. State officials say the larger former gaming vessel is slated to become an artificial reef.
I’m thinking by October this thing will be on the sea floor,” said Robert Akridge, who has been leading the dismantling of the four-story floating casino for about a month. “Our job is to gut it out and make it an iron shell to put at the bottom of the sea floor.”
“If our marine resources can execute an agreement to turn one of the barges into a reef, that would be our goal,” added Russell Rigby of Alabama Marine Resources. “We’ve been working hard towards that goal, and we think we’re going to be able to make it happen.”
Boat Was Argosy Casino
The boat that Akridge and his team are prepping to sink was the Argosy Casino Lawrenceburg. The floating casino opened in December 1996 and remained on the Ohio Riverbank in Lawrenceburg, roughly 15 air miles west of downtown Cincinnati, until 2009, when Penn Entertainment swapped it out for a much larger barge.
Penn Entertainment, which was Penn National Gaming at the time, overhauled its Indiana property into Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg.
In 2008, the Argosy Lawrenceburg’s last full year in operation, the riverboat welcomed more than 1.7 million people. The facility had 76 table games and 2,500 slot machines.
The Argosy, however, remained in the Ohio River for nearly a decade after its slot machines were powered down. Penn finally sold and shipped the shuttered boat in January 2018 to the BLB City Docks.
Last month, the Mobile County Commission awarded $24.4 million for the BLB City Docks. The major renovation project includes built-up docks and boat slips, beautification, a paved surface parking lot, and wider streets. The federal funding comes through the 2012 RESTORE Act, which was in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010.
“The Deepwater Horizon spill was devastating to Bayou La Batre. This project is exactly what the RESTORE Act was meant to deliver: long-term, visible recovery where it’s needed most. Thanks to federal, state, and local collaboration, the City of Bayou La Batre’s working waterfront will be reborn as a sustainable engine for Alabama’s seafood industry,” said Chris Blankenship, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Casino Boats Loose
Over the years, the two former casino riverboats in Bayou La Batre have broken loose during storms. Most recently, in June 2023, both vessels caused damage to nearby piers and bait shops.
The BLB City Docks project will prevent that from happening in the future, as the docks will be more secure, and the larger, former Argosy will likely be sunk.
Artificial reefs provide habitat and shelter for marine life and promote biodiversity. They also support fishing and provide coastal protection.
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