You'll Never Guess Why Government Officials Are Sinking a Four-Story Riverboat Casino Into the Abyss

You'll Never Guess Why Government Officials Are Sinking a Four-Story Riverboat Casino Into the Abyss says Alabama officials are scuttling the riverboat casino Argosy VI not on state waterways, but off the coast of Orange Beach. Alabama’s WPMI reports that the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources purchased the nearly 400-foot vessel to convert it into an artificial reef. Crews have already gutted the interior, clearing slot machines and other gambling fixtures to prepare for marine settlement. Craig Newton of the Alabama Marine Resources Fisheries Section told WPMI that fish may appear within weeks, but it will take years for corals and other organisms to establish a productive food-web base. Completed in 1997 at a reported cost of $6.5 million, Argosy VI is a flat-bottomed, four-deck passenger ship. The Cincinnati Enquirer said it had a maximum capacity of 4,407 people and space for more than 1,700 slot machines.