Hard Rock Casino Bankrupt

[Straight_Up_Pimpin]

The parent company of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Biloxi filed for bankruptcy Tuesday in Gulfport to access its Katrina-related insurance proceeds and rebuild.

The resort was days away from opening when Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29, 2005, destroying the casino and damaging another building, the hotel tower and parking garage.

Premier Entertainment Biloxi LLC has collected more than $160 million in Katrina-related insurance proceeds, which is enough to pay its creditors in full and rebuild the casino resort. But the company's bondholders have refused to allow Premier Entertainment access to most of the money, according to the bankruptcy motion.

Lawrence Hershfield, chairman of the board of Premier Entertainment Biloxi, said in a release that the company has sufficient resources to pay all its creditors in full and rebuild the casino, but the company's bondholders refuse to allow the company to use its own money. Bondholders allege the company is in default because it failed to re-open the resort by Dec. 31.

"The board of the company has concluded that the quickest way to get access to our cash is to use a bankruptcy reorganization process," Hershfield said.