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Tama pushing for riverboat casino
Message was posted: 10:26 Aug 26th, 2006

User: AussieAussieAussie Rank: Casino Gold: 2727CG Contributor rating: 5680 Status: Offline

Casino news from http://www.timesrepublican.com/ The City of Tama is making a run at putting a casino riverboat on its recently acquired Cherry Lake near downtown. The Tama City Council on Monday approved an agreement with Signature Management Group to negotiate and develop a casino project after a representative presented them with a strategic plan to compete for a gaming license. Petitions circulating recently had amassed 1,031 signatures by Thursday in favor of asking voters whether to legalize gambling during this November’s general election. Tama only needed 903 names to proceed with the first step in the project’s timeline. If the majority of residents county-wide support legalized gambling, the venture would then move to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, which has the authority to grant a gaming license. Mayor Chris Bearden said he approached SMG in May about looking at Tama as a possible site for a future casino after Caraustar Industries donated the 40-acre Cherry Lake and surrounding land next to their Tama Paperboard mill. “We were just kicking around ideas about what to do with the lake and the idea for a casino came up, so we looked into it further,” Bearden said. The fate of a casino riverboat in Tama is largely uncertain, but local support is pushing the idea along. “There’s been real good support,” he said, even from residents in the northern half of the county. “It would have great impact on the whole county.” Besides bringing more people to downtown Tama, the project could also generate funds for community enrichment grants through the gambling taxes, Bearden noted.