UPDATED 9:40 a.m
With no discussion, the Missouri Gaming Commission cleared the way today for Cape Girardeau to receive the state's final casino license.
The vote -- which technically gives the project priority for a full background investigation -- was unanimous. A license
Commission Chairman Jim Mathewson told reporters afterward that the Cape Girardeau project won because of the community's strong backing and the stellar record of the developer, Creve Coeur-based Isle of Capri Corp.
"Isle of Capri has proven themselves to be a good corporate citizen in the state of Missouri," he said.
"We know their record. Their corporate headquarters is in Missouri. They made a good presentation. The community of Cape Girardeau voetd 61 percent to have it there. Their financial data held up."
Asked why St. Louis lost out, Mathewson said: "We received stacks and stacks of opposition, just baskets of it, from the area. We also had a lot of positives. And I think probably the biggest single concern there is, is that market already well-covered" with casinos.
Rodney Crim, executive director of the St. Louis Development Corp., said the city was disappointed.
"I believe we had the better plan," Crim said. "This license should have stayed in the city. This was an opportunity to bring back permanent jobs to an area that desperately needs them."
Isle's chief development officer, Paul Keller, said construction on the Cape Girardeau casino would begin early next summer. He said the company already has control of the land and needs minimal permits.
JEFFERSON CITY • State regulators could put an end today to the suspense over who -- if anyone -- should get Missouri's 13th and final casino license.
The Missouri Gaming Commission will meet at 9 a.m. in Jefferson City to weigh competing proposals from developers in St. Louis, Cape Girardeau and suburban Kansas City. The commission is expected to decide whether one of the three should be selected for a full background investigation, which would be tantamount to winning the license.
The bid by Creve Coeur-based Isle of Capri Corp. to build a $125 million casino in Cape Girardeau is the odds-on favorite, thanks to a state study that found that plan would create the most jobs and generate the most new state tax revenue.
But St. Louis officials are pressing their case for a $132 million casino at the northern tip of the city, near the Chain of Rocks bridge. Anchoring that development team is the Koman family, which built the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, The Komans this week announced that they had formed a last-minute partnershp with Las Vegas-based Tropicana Entertainment, which is owned in large part by billionaire investor Carl Icahn.
Backers of the St. Louis project contend it would spark more new business than would be available in Cape Girardeau. For example, they predict a new city casino would draw about $50 million from the Alton Belle in Alton, Ill.
But the St. Louis proposal faces opposition from some local environmental groups, which say the Mississippi and Missouri rivers are key routes for migrating birds and putting a casino near the confluence would damage their flyway.
The 13th license -- the last allowed under state law -- is available because of the closure of the President Casino in St. Louis earlier this year.
However, commission Chairman Jim Mathewson has noted that the state isn't required to award it, especially if it's unclear whether applicants have the financial capacity to follow through with their promises. In that event, the state might wait to award the license, Mathewson has said.
The five members of the gaming commission are appointed by the governor to serve staggered, three-year terms. Gov. Jay Nixon has appointed three of them: Mathewson, of Sedalia; Barrett Hatches of Kansas City; and Jack Merritt of Republic. Former Gov. Matt Blunt appointed Noel Shull of Kansas City and Darryl T. Jones of St. Louis.
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