NATCHEZ — New Orleans Hotel Consultants President Warren Reuther Jr. has granted two wishes outlined by the Natchez Convention and Visitors Bureau, but it’s going to take more than $5 million to grant the third and final wish.

Reuther and Natchez Convention Center General Manager Walter Tipton are drumming up support to build a boat dock and parking structure on Roth Hill to accommodate a 600-passenger paddlewheel boat on the Mississippi River.

“We are interested in bringing a paddlewheel boat to Natchez for daytime historic sightseeing tours and nightly dinner cruises,” said Reuther, who owns the Creole Queen paddlewheel boat in New Orleans and the Natchez Grand Hotel.

“When we first came to Natchez and met with the CVB, there were three things that they thought were important to bring more tourists into Natchez. The first thing was to build a hotel across from the convention center, the third thing was to implement a $2 (hotel occupancy tax), but the second thing was to bring a paddlewheel boat to Natchez. “Natchez just seems like a logical place to have a paddlewheel boat.”

Tipton said building a boat dock and parking structure on Roth Hill will cost $4.8 million while the paddlewheel boat will cost $800,000.

Tipton and Reuther’s first priority is building the boat dock, and both have petitioned the Mayor Jake Middleton and Natchez Board of Aldermen and State Sen. Bob Dearing (D-Natchez) to secure funding for the project.

Middleton said he and the board support the idea, but logistics must be outlined first.

“The board and I would welcome the boat,” Middleton said. “How we get to that point? I don’t know. We’d have to confer with our legal counsel.”

Tipton said aside from the Isle of Capri Casino and the Phatwater Kayak Challenge, tourists lack a river-related experience in Natchez. Tipton added the new attraction would only enhance existing tourist destinations.

“(The boat) would compliment the convention center, the antebellum homes, the (Roth Hill casino project) and downtown businesses,” Tipton said.

Tipton said he and Reuther have contacted representatives of Premier Gaming Group, whose plans are to build a 38,000-square-foot casino at the foot of Roth Hill. While no formal agreement has been reached, Tipton said the boat would only enhance the casino’s business.

“That type of action (on Roth Hill) would only bring more foot traffic to their business,” Tipton said.

According to preliminary figures, the Natchez boat would have a $1 million payroll and employ 38 full-time employees.

The estimated completion time for the project is six to eight months, Tipton said. Pyburn & Odom, a consulting engineering firm in Baton Rouge, has already drawn a blueprint for the dock.

If the funding is secured, “all three things our company was brought in to do will have been accomplished,” Reuther said.