Owners of the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles have announced plans to significantly expand the property’s convention center. The large-scale renovation to triple the center’s size is aimed at attracting larger events to St. Charles County.
The expansion, which will add 43,000 square feet to the existing facility, will help the property meet the growing demand for event space and enhance the venue’s appeal to large-scale conventions and gatherings. TTTTtthe property currently welcomes over 3 million visitors annually, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
This addition will bring the total convention center space to 65,000 square feet, complementing the property’s existing amenities, which include a 130,000-square-foot casino, 397 hotel rooms, seven restaurants and cafes, and a spa.
The new convention space will repurpose an existing empty area on the second floor of the complex, located just north of Interstate 70 and across the river from the Hollywood Casino in St. Louis County.
Boyd Gaming, which has owned the property since 2018, has also launched extensive renovations and rebranding efforts across the hotel rooms and restaurants.
Construction on the new convention space is expected to be completed by the fall of 2025. Doug Lang, senior vice president and general manager of Ameristar St. Charles, emphasized that the existing convention and meeting spaces are nearly fully booked every weekend.
“This is not a build it and they will come moment. We look at the business we have today as well as the denials and regrets from companies and groups that would like to come to St. Charles but can’t because we don’t have the space they need,” Doug Lang, senior vice president and general manager of Ameristar St. Charles, was quoted as saying in the report.
“Over the past five or six years, we have seen this pent-up demand for convention center space building not just for our business, but for the entire region,” Lang added.
Lang noted the expansion will enable the convention center to host more casual entertainment events and larger trade groups, with bookings already in progress for late 2025.
St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer praised the expansion as a testament to Boyd Gaming’s commitment to keeping the property vibrant and fresh. He believes the increased convention space will complement other local venues, including the city-owned St. Charles Convention Center and the St. Charles County-owned Family Arena, both located within two miles of the Ameristar property.
However, Borgmeyer highlighted a growing issue with hotel room shortages, exacerbated by the rising demand for convention space.
“We just had a large regional conference where we had to book people hotel rooms all the way in Warrenton. You can’t say, ‘Come to St. Charles as a tourist or convention,’ but then stay 45 miles away,” he said, as per the report.
Despite some trade groups and businesses relocating events out of the St. Louis metro area due to crime concerns, Lang remains confident in Boyd Gaming’s ability to attract convention and trade show organizers to St. Charles County. He cited the region’s proximity to Lambert International Airport and Interstate 70 as significant advantages.
David Strow, a spokesperson for Boyd Gaming, pointed out that conventions have a substantial economic impact on local communities. “If we can get more people to Ameristar for conventions, then that creates an entire ripple effect that benefits all of St. Charles,” Strow was quoted in the report.
Lang also mentioned that the expansion project has been in planning since 2018 and is part of a $100 million capital-building initiative by Boyd Gaming, which includes a new casino in Las Vegas. Boyd Gaming currently operates 28 casinos across 11 states.