BEUSSINK: PROJECT NOT LINED TO BOAT ADS

The developer of a hoped for $23 million residential and recreational facility adjacent to the Lady Luck resort and riverboat casino site in Cape Girardeau, says he has stayed out of the campaign to select a riverboat operator.

Several advertisements have appeared on television critical of Boyd Gaming's $52 million riverboat proposal for downtown Cape Girardeau. The advertisements were placed by a group calling itself Southeast Development Corp., and, alternately, South Cape Development Group.

The names have led to confusion about the company that earlier this month unveiled the $23 million project that would be built if Lady Luck Gaming gets the city's endorsement.

That company -- the South Cape Development Co. -- has not "spent a penny on advertisements," says Duane Beussink, the project's developer.

Beussink, vice president of Mid-America Distributing in Cape Girardeau, said the confusion has been frustrating.

"I think most people are confusing us with the company that's running the television ads," he said. "That's not us. We have asked them to change their tag line, because it's really similar.

"It is frustrating. People say they don't believe it will happen unless they know who's involved, but I don't worry about it. We'll reveal our investors once the project's more firm."

Beussink said most of the investors aren't residents of Cape Girardeau. He said their motivation essentially is "making money."

"I look at it to make money too, but I also think it would be a good catalyst to revitalize that end of town," he said.

The 40-acre development site is at the corner of Sprigg and Southern Expressway, on the northwestern border of Lady Luck's 100-acre resort site.

The project will include 100 townhouses, a "rec-plex" family entertainment center with indoor swimming, a "white water aquatic center," tennis, soccer and an athletic area.

Adjacent to the townhouses, Beussink has proposed a community center with day care programs for senior citizens and children, in addition to programs of general community interest.

"With 1,100 people working across the street, we're looking to market the development to Lady Luck employees," Beussink said. "We would hope the townhouses would be attractive to employees.

"On the other side of the road, the recreation center is more geared toward the resort area," he added. "They're going to have a hotel and overnight guests, and we think our recreation center and driving range would complement that."

The site, now owned by Six-Thirty Corp., which Beussink's father, Ernest, has an interest in, and the R.C. Evans Trust, is zoned commercial and industrial.

Beussink said the project likely would take 12-18 months to complete.

"We wouldn't start our project until Lady Luck got their's off the ground," he said. "If the city's endorsement doesn't go to Lady Luck, we'll have to reassess our project. It could be scaled back, but we would probably start from scratch with a smaller project."

Beussink said none of the investors are financially tied to Lady Luck or any other gaming company.

"When I first decided to do it, I went to Lady Luck and asked them some demographics on the type of people they would be hiring, their pay scale and those types of things," he said. "That's what got the project rolling."