Mississippi State Gaming Commission officials were on hand to oversee counting and the closing out of books as employees for Delta Investment and Development began shutting down Grand Station Casino Thursday.

Gaming Commission deputy director Eddie Williams said part of the commission’s job is overseeing casino closings.

“We watch the money being counted, the removal of the equipment, and other administrative activity,” he said. “The manufacturers will pick up their machines, and any machines that are left will be gutted so they can’t be used.”

Grand Station Casino closed Wednesday, putting 230 people out of work and shutting down the restaurants in the hotel, which was bought in January by Avondale Shipyard of New Orleans. The food service workers were casino employees.

One of the restaurants, Huck’s Hideaway, was reopened Thursday evening, and casino marketing director Mickey Fedell said the hotel owners were negotiating to reopen the other two restaurants, the Grand Buffet and Cairo’s Steakhouse. The buffet was expected to be open this weekend, he said.

Early Thursday afternoon, the casino parking lot was empty with the exception of a car from the Gaming Commission and cars from casino employees kept on to handle the closing.

A security guard in the casino parking lot directed visitors away from the hotel’s ground entrance opposite the casino to the hotel’s Mulberry Street entrance. A section of the hotel lobby leading to the restaurants was blocked by a partition with doors. Fedell said the ground floor entrance and the lobby were reopened Thursday evening.

Officials with three of Vicksburg’s four remaining casinos said they are not actively recruiting Grand Station Casino workers, but encouraged the laid-off employees to apply for jobs.

Ameristar public relations director Lori Burke and Felicia Gavin, vice president and general manager for DiamondJacks Casino, said their casinos have openings, but did not say how many.

“They are welcome to apply for any opening we have. We will have a part-time job fair on April 13,” Burke said.

She said the casino’s employment office at 4116 Washington St. is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and from 1 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays.

“Grand Station had some experienced people, and we welcome their talents,” Gavin said.

She said the casino’s human resources office at 2920 Washington St. accepts applications from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

Aaron Harn, director of marketing for Rainbow Casino, said Rainbow had 12 openings for dealers and an opening for a casino shift manager.

“We would be very happy to have team members affected by Grand Station’s closure apply here at Rainbow Hotel Casino,” he said

Officials with Riverwalk casino were unavailable for comment.

Williams said unemployed casino workers can transfer their work permit to another casino by filling out a one-page application. There is no fee, he said.

Grand Station Casino closed Wednesday morning after casino owner Delta Investments and Development failed to reach a settlement with Bally Gaming Inc. on a $3 million debt Bally said Delta owes.

Bally’s filed for foreclosure Feb. 29 and filed a suit on March 2 in U.S. District Court in Jackson to recover the money. A new foreclosure sale is set for April 17 on the Warren County Courthouse steps.

Harrah’s opened the casino in 1993 and sold it in 2003 for $28.6 million to Kentucky-based Columbia Sussex, which renamed the casino Horizon. Tropicana Entertainment, which had been part of Columbia Sussex, took over Horizon operations and, in 2007, the firm agreed to sell the casino to Nevada Gold and Casinos for about $35 million, but that deal fell through a year later.

In 2010, Delta bought the hotel and casino for $3.25 million in cash plus liabilities. One was a lease agreement dating to 1993 with the City of Vicksburg for 2.95 acres of property at City Front and the casino parking garages between Mulberry and Washington streets. The city had sold the property to Harrah’s, then the public areas were leased back to the city for $1 a year.