ST. CROIX - The Casino Control Commission announced Friday that it has accepted William and Punch Gaming's application for a casino license for its planned resort just north of downtown Frederiksted.

William and Punch Gaming filed a casino license application under the Class II designation, which means it must build between 300 and 1,499 hotel rooms with a minimum of 10,000 square feet of casino space. It also paid a non-refundable $100,000 application fee.

The company submitted the packet weeks ago but for it to be deemed filed the Casino Control Commission must review the application and agree that all the requisite documents have been included.

"The next step is for the gaming enforcement division to do a thorough background check on each of those individuals to make sure everything they have told us about themselves is the truth," said Casino Control Commission chairwoman Eileen Petersen. "Our goal is to make sure no unsavory characters get involved in the casino industry here."

Following the background investigation, the Casino Control Commission will hold public hearings to hear community input on granting the casino license.

"We also make our decision based on what the community tells because a license is a privilege and not a right," Petersen said.

William and Punch Gaming also is required to make another $100,000 payment to the commission and to submit an approved Coastal Zone Management permit, building permits, conceptual and final architectural site plans for the casino and details on how many people it will hire.

If approved, William and Punch Gaming must begin construction on the casino within six months of receiving the license or risk losing it, she said.

William and Punch Partners, a St. Croix company co-managed by Kevin Rames and Chris Elliott, purchased the 588-acre property, which lies between Rainbow Beach and Creque Dam road, for $3.75 million in August 2004. Original plans for the development include a beachfront hotel, casino, marina, championship golf course and condominiums.

Last July, the Connecticut-based Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation announced that it had acquired a majority interest in William and Punch Partners. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation owns and operates Foxwoods Casino and Resort in Connecticut.

Rames said the Casino Control Commission's acceptance of the casino license application is a "significant milestone" in developing the destination resort.

"The principals of William and Punch look forward to the completion of the investigatory process and the ultimate development of a project that the people of St. Croix and people of the Virgin Islands can be proud of," Rames said.

Rames said William and Punch is in the process of hiring professionals to complete scientific analyses, conceptual drawings and other renderings, as required for the Coastal Zone Management permit application.

"William and Punch is actively engaged in process of identifying those professionals and getting them under contract," Rames said. "It is anticipated that the CZM permit application will be filed in the latter part of 2006."

- Contact Christine Lett at 774-8772 ext. 456 or e-mail clett@dailynews.vi.