The new owner of the Isle of Capri Casino took another step toward remaking the Vicksburg boat and hotel this week when it submitted an application for license to the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

Legends Gaming of Mississippi, LLC, a subsidiary of Frankford, Ill.-based Legends Gaming LLC, submitted the application for the renamed DiamondJacks Casino and Hotel to the commission Tuesday.

Larry Gregory, chairman of the commission, said late Friday afternoon that no further movement had been made on a final transaction with Legends Gaming.

&#8220I assume they’ll be closing sometime in July and they’ll come back to the gaming commission for any other approval,” he said. &#8220They’ll move forward with their project after that date.”

The Isle agreed to sell its properties in Vicksburg and Bossier City in February for $240 million.

The project set to replace the Isle’s tropical motif at 3990 Washington St. is expected to house about 800 slot machines and 20 table games in 32,000 feet of gaming space, according to the license application. Its chief operating officer and chief financial officer, G. Dan Marshall, said in February the casino and hotel would be the group’s &#8220core assets.”

Legends officials have said they intend to retain all of the Isle’s employees except senior executives in both cities. The Vicksburg casino employs about 525 people.

The Isle has overhauled its national operation since its Biloxi casino was wrecked by Hurricane Katrina last August, moving its corporate headquarters from Biloxi to suburban St. Louis in addition to the sales in Mississippi and Louisiana. The proceeds from the sale of its Vicksburg and Bossier City casinos will go toward paying down debt and improving its other 13 casinos and harness racing parks.

Legends Gaming LLC was started in 2004 by its current chairman and majority owner, William J. McEnery; Michael E. Kelly, its president and chief executive officer; and Marshall.

The purchase is Legends Gaming’s first in Mississippi and Louisiana and the third attempt overall.

In July 2004, the group attempted to purchase the Majestic Star in Black Hawk, Colo., Kelly’s former employer, for $66 million from its wholly owned subsidiary, Barden Colorado Gaming LLC.

The deal was terminated by both parties in April 2005 when problems arose with the sale of bonds.

Licensing and approval of casino ventures in Mississippi comes in three phases.

First the site must be approved, then the prospective owners have six months to present a site development plan to the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

A maximum of two years is allotted between that and an approval to proceed, during which the commission must be presented with a financial package to approve the group’s finances. A license is then issued.

Vicksburg currently has four casinos, Isle of Capri, Ameristar, Horizon and Rainbow, and an addition of two new casinos is expected in the next two years.

The two proposed developments, one by Lakes Entertainment and the other, Pot of Gold Casino and Magnolia Hills Resort, are both in the process to receive approval to begin building.

Lakes Entertainment is to be built between the Mississippi River and U.S. 61 South. Pot of Gold Casino and Magnolia Hills Resort will be farther south off U.S. 61 South, adjacent to Meadow Lane.