There was a really great artist's rendering of the proposed casino to go along with this article click here to see the artist's rendering.
Casino proposal submitted
By Brandon Cone
BDN Staff Writer
bcone@bransondailynews.com
ROCKAWAY BEACH — Citizens of Rockaway Beach filled the city’s Community Center on Thursday night for a presentation from the lone company submitting a proposal to put a riverboat casino in the town of 600.
City officials said although the Detroit-based Barden Development Inc. was the only developer to respond to the city’s offer, they wanted to make sure it is the right company for Rockaway Beach.
“The board of aldermen and the gaming committee feel they have a duty to make sure that even though we received one reply, that it’s a party that they want to do business with, and will be a good partner for the city as we move forward with this,” said the city’s Gaming Attorney Doug Stone.
Steve Lemberg, a vice president with the developer, which already owns five casinos across the nation, said Rockaway Beach’s proposal was one of the few that caught his eye.
“With what’s going on in neighboring Branson, with the number of people who live within a 50-100 mile radius, and with all the other things going on in this area, we think this is a viable project,” Lemberg said.
Lemberg said his company was interested in building a “sizable middle-market casino” that would be a good fit with the town.
“We are not looking to build a palace and it would not be our intention to build a palace here in Rockaway Beach, Lemberg said. “We are talking about a safe, clean, comfortable environment. We do not tolerate anything else.
“People have to feel safe when they come to a casino, people have to feel comfortable. You have to know when you’re walking from the casino to your car that you’re not worried about things, and we have achieved that at all of our casinos.”
Barden Development Inc. owns two Majestic Star casinos in Gary, Ind.; one Fitzgerald’s Casino in Tunica, Miss.; one Fitzgerald’s in Blackhawk, Colo.; and one Fitzgerald’s in Las Vegas.
Lemberg said the $144 million casino they would like to build in Rockaway Beach would be close to the size of the company’s Tunica location and would feature about 57,000 feet of gaming space, over 1,300 slot machines, over 40 table games and about 2,100 parking spaces.
He also said the casino would provide 800-900 new permanent full-time jobs and generate as much as $28.6-34.3 million in tax revenues a year for Missouri and $6.3-7.6 million a year for Rockaway Beach and Taney County.
Mayor Tom Strom said the city’s aldermen will research the company, its casinos and a developmental agreement over the next four to eight weeks to decide whether they would like to partner with Barden.
Even if the city does agree to go along with the developer’s plans, an amendment will still need to be made to the Missouri constitution to allow gambling on the White River.
In 2004 Rockaway Beach failed to convince Missouri voters to change the state constitution to allow casinos along the White River, but Stone said the city will try different tactics to win voters over this time should a development agreement be reached with Barden Development.
“We’ll need to do a better job educating voters on the positives gaming can have to this area and the entire state,” Stone said. “We also need to do a better job responding to the lies our opposition spreads about the project.” |
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