Cape Girardeau voters approve casino

Cape Girardeau voters finally put their cards on the table Tuesday, heavily supporting a proposal that, if selected by state gaming officials later this month, could bring a $125 million casino near downtown.

The measure approving gambling in the city passed easily with 61 percent of the vote, which Mayor Harry Rediger described as a "landslide." He said the margin of victory sends a strong endorsement to the Missouri Gaming Commission.

Commissioners have said they will select a site for the state's 13th license by the end of the month.

Doug Austin, right, spokesman for Quality of Life in Cape Girardeau, and Melvin Gateley, treasurer, check election results for the casino issue Thursday, Nov. 2, 2010 at the County Administration Building in Jackson. (Fred Lynch)

"Everything is in the hands of the gaming commission now, and we're looking forward to their decision," Rediger said at a gathering of supporters at Buckner's Brewing Co.

With all city precincts reporting, voters cast 7,635 votes in favor of casino gaming in the city and 4,850 votes against it, which is 61 to 38 percent.

"Without a doubt this has to make us the front-runner because economically we have made the case," Rediger said. "Our people are very supportive. Every precinct has voted yes."

Isle of Capri officials, who are proposing the casino for North Main Street, were also elated with the outcome.

"We always thought that winning at all would be good," said Paul Keller, Isle's senior vice president and chief development officer. "But winning by a significant majority would give the gaming commission the assurance they might be looking for that Cape Girardeau is really ready for this industry. They've said in the past that public support is important to them."

Keller wouldn't speculate on what the gaming commission will decide, but he feels good about his company's chances.

"I think we have a really, really solid application," Keller said. "We're an operator that is already licensed. We have the financing. We have the support of the community. We have a fantastic site and the site that provides Missouri with the most incremental tax revenue."

Meanwhile, the Quality of Life group gathered at the Jackson administrative office's election center to watch as an issue they opposed passed handily.

"Words aren't able to describe my disappointment," said Doug Austin, who lead the opposition group.

Austin said he hopes the Missouri Gaming Commission will grant the license to either St. Louis or Sugar Creek, or even not at all.

"I will avoid the casino," he said. "It was a jobs issue and the ability they had to promote that. We didn't have the money they did, and we couldn't finance a campaign like they could. I just hope the casino goes anywhere other than Cape."

As for voters, they said that it was the lure of more jobs and more tax revenue that the casino is expected to bring.

"It's really a hard topic for a lot of people," said Theresa Robinson, who voted for the casino over her lunch-hour at Grace United Methodist Church. "But it's really important to the city."

For Robinson, the banquet hall manager at the Eagles club, it came down to the employment factor.

"We don't have any new industry coming into this area and there are so many people out of work," she said. "I watched Thorngate and the shoe factory close. Each one was another knife in the community's heart."

Not every voter was crazy about the idea.

Delores Koch, who cast her ballot at Red Star Baptist Church just a few blocks away from the proposed casino site, voted no.

"There are a lot of reasons," Koch said. "But I just don't want it for our town."

Now, it's up to the Missouri Gaming Commission, which has said it hopes to have a decision before Thanksgiving. The commission is expected to choose between Isle of Capri's Cape Girardeau proposal and casino proposals in St. Louis and in Sugar Creek near Kansas City. While Isle's proposal has been called a favorite if the vote passed, the commission has said all along not granting a 13th license is an option if it deems it unwarranted.

Cape Girardeau last voted on a gambling issue in 1993, which it did twice. In June of that year, the measure failed and then it passed in November. But the casino never materialized.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646