Island View Casino

Island View Casino Resort in Gulfport, Mississippi, emerged as the successor to the Copa Casino, which originally operated on a docked cruise ship and later in a barge-based structure at the Mississippi State Docks. The Copa, along with its neighboring Grand Casino Gulfport, was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. When Harrah’s Entertainment, the parent company of Grand Casino, chose not to rebuild, it sold the Grand’s site to Copa owners Rick Carter and Terry Green. After Mississippi lawmakers allowed casinos to be built on dry land, Carter and Green utilized the Grand’s former hotel as a temporary casino for the first phase of their redevelopment. Today, Island View Casino is the only casino remaining in Gulfport following Katrina’s devastation.

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The new facility, known as Phase I, opened on September 18, 2006, featuring 1,033 video poker and slot machines, 15 table games, a 350-seat buffet, C&G Grille, and a 563-room hotel. Phase II was completed on May 14, 2007, expanding the gaming space and introducing a multi-level parking garage and Emeril’s Gulf Coast Fish House. However, the restaurant later closed in June 2010 and was replaced by Carter Green Steakhouse.

In May 2008, the casino opened a 24-hour poker room with nine tables, but it closed in 2010 and was converted into a slot tournament area. Additional enhancements included the opening of a 24-hour coffee shop in December 2009, the launch of the Island View Insider players club program, a dedicated website, and the addition of a guest swimming pool in 2011.

Island View Casino also owns Windance Country Club, an 18-hole championship golf course in Gulfport. In April 2015, the resort expanded with the opening of the Beach Tower hotel complex, adding 407 guest rooms and increasing total accommodations to 970 rooms. Located south of U.S. Route 90 on the former Grand Casino Gulfport property, the Beach Tower features seven dining and beverage venues, a spa, fitness center, gift shop, saltwater pool, and meeting spaces. In May 2017, construction began on a $75 million casino adjacent to the Beach Tower, designed by architect Edward Vance of EV&A Architects. The project was completed in June 2018, further solidifying Island View Casino as a premier gaming and entertainment destination on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.