Sun Herald – Island View Casino owners are ready to refurbish the hotel tower south of U.S. 90 after signing a 50-year lease Thursday with the Mississippi state Port Authority.

“We’re starting demolition (of the interior) within the next week or so,” said Rick Carter, who owns the casino resort with childhood friend Terry Green. “It’s going to be phenomenal.”

The agreement begins with a 10-year lease and has multiple extensions. Carter said 35 years remained on the lease assumed when he and Green bought the former Grand Casino from Harrah’s Entertainment after Hurricane Katrina. That lease was for a casino barge rather than an onshore casino, which legislation permitted after Katrina.

The new lease removes the confusion and helps with financing and future development of the resort, Carter said.