NATCHEZ &8212; Casino developer Charles Cato said Wednesday he is still working to close a deal to purchase the Ramada Hilltop.

&8220;I&8217;ll be in (Natchez) next week, and I should know more then&8221; on when the deal will be closed, Cato said.

Meanwhile, Ramada representatives have said the 160-room hotel will be open through the first week in April, Tourism Director Walter Tipton said.

But Cato said in a January article he hoped to close on the Ramada deal in early February and had not yet decided whether to close the entire hotel during extensive renovations.

He has said tearing down and rebuilding the hotel&8217;s main building could take five months and that renovating its outbuildings could take three to four months.

And given those headlines, many people coming into town for such events as Spring Pilgrimage and the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration have chosen to book rooms elsewhere, Tipton said.

When the Ramada does close for renovations, it will take about 16 percent of Natchez&8217;s hotel rooms out of the market.

&8220;It&8217;s clearly going to hurt us,&8221; Tipton said.

&8220;I just finished booking 100 rooms at the Comfort Suites in Vidalia. What this (uncertainty) is doing is giving them a great year.&8221;

Tipton said the Convention and Visitors Bureau is referring those concerned about the Ramada&8217;s status to Natchez&8217;s other hotels and bed-and-breakfast inns as much as possible. &8220;But the bed-and-breakfasts are a different tiered market than the hotels,&8221; Tipton said.

Cato has also obtained from the Mississippi Gaming Commission a license to operate a casino just south of the Mississippi River bridge.

He has said the casino, hotel and his earlier purchase of the Briars bed and breakfast represent a $70 million investment that could employ 400 people.