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Casino donates $480K in grants
By Rachel Gallegos
Iowa City Press-Citizen
To celebrate the first round of grant awards funded by the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, the nonprofit organization that holds the gaming license will host an awards ceremony and dinner at the casino's Event Center.
The Washington County Riverboat Foundation Inc. Board will award grants totaling $480,000 to 37 groups in the county, foundation chairman Tim Putney said.
The foundation received between 70 and 75 applications, he said. Interested groups had to send in a letter of intent by Sept. 1 and complete the two-page application by Oct. 1. The 13 board members reviewed each application before agreeing on how much to give to each organization, Putney said. The same process will occur every six months.
The inaugural grant awards ceremony will begin at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday with a social hour, followed by a buffet dinner.
Grant applicants had to be within Washington County and meet certain criteria. Some of the groups have matching funds available, but it was not a requirement, Putney said.
Awards range from a multi-year, $2 million gift to the Wellman Area Foundation for the new community center to $4,020 for recorded books for the Wellman Mid-Prairie High School library.
The board received requests for about $9 million, Putney said.
"There's a lot of need out there, especially with the school districts, county government and city governments," he said.
Putney said he does not anticipate duplicating Wednesday's gala, which will be complete with oversized checks, for each award ceremony.
"This is our first time to do something like this," he said. "It's just kind of the kickoff thing."
Board member Ron Slechta said he looks forward to seeing the funds used to improve communities throughout Washington County.
"I think it's great for the community that's receiving the grants," he said.
Slechta said he also considered the grants "a way of saying thanks to the voters who approved this and got the whole thing started."
The Riverside Casino & Golf Resort opened Aug. 31. The $140 million project opened two years to the day after 52.2 percent of Washington County voters approved the gambling referendum, the closest margin of any of the gambling referendum votes that took place in 2003 and 2004.
The more than 350,000-square-foot facility has seen more than 463,000 guests and earned adjusted gross revenues of nearly $27.8 million since opening. December was the best month of attendance so far with 131,773 visitors, according to Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission data.
Based on the casino's pre-opening estimate of $83 million for first year gaming revenue, the foundation will receive about $3.3 million for the entire year. According to state law, 25 percent of the foundation funds -- more than $834,000 -- is distributed to the nine incorporated towns in the county on a per capita basis. The rest of the money, about $2.5 million, goes to other nonprofit and charitable groups in the county that apply for funding. |
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