Emerald Queen by Any Other Name

Stories of the Paddle-wheeled riverboat that formerly housed the Emerald Queen Casino are gettting closer to Downtown Aberdeen. Aberdeen Mayor Bill Simpson said that the setup of the casino would mirror the Tacoma setup, with a non-smoking casino, a smoking casino, and a restaurant over the three levels. Simpson says as he understands it the boat would be parked right next to the mothballed Stouffers store near the Chehalis River Bridge.

Simpson told callers to the Coffee Talk program Thursday morning that odds were very good that the project would go through.

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Developer John Yonich is working with several Native American Gambling organizations which intend to lease the riverboat from him, the gambling would then abide by the Native American Gambling laws of Washington State.

The Emerald Queen Casino opened on the riverboat berthed on Off-Reservation trust-land in the Port of Tacoma in 1997, and closed in 2004 to expand it's operations to the Fife location which includes a casino and a 140 room hotel.