Boonville, Caruthersville residents say casinos have been a benefit to their communities

Many people have questions about the effect of a casino on Cape Girardeau, but after many years of operation, gaming facilities in other small Missouri towns are seen as community partners, according to business leaders and residents interviewed by the Southeast Missourian.

From cleaning up blighted areas to providing jobs and tax revenue, residents in Caruthersville, Mo., and Boonville, Mo., say casinos have benefited their communities.

Developers will present proposals for a casino in Cape Girardeau during a special session of the city council at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Osage Community Centre. Cape Girardeau is one of several communities hoping to receive a casino license, after the recent closing of the President Casino in St. Louis left one of only 13 licenses up for grabs.

Isle of Capri, a company that many speculate is interested a Cape Girardeau casino, operates gaming facilities in Boonville, population 8,702, and Caruthersville, population 6,237.

Boonville's Isle of Capri Casino, which includes a 140-room hotel, opened in 2001. Caruthersville's Lady Luck Casino opened in 1995 and was in 2007 bought by Isle of Capri, which renamed the facility.

"They've put a lot of money into the town," said Lance Mansfield, who operates Grizzly Jig sporting goods store with his father and brother one block up the street from the Lady Luck Casino. "We've got a lot of money we wouldn't have had if we didn't have the casino."

Mansfield cited street improvements, additional funding for the town's police department and increased sales at his own business as benefits brought by the casino.

"People will stop here before or after they go to the casino since we're right here on the corner," he said. "A lot of people who hit it big, maybe win $1,000, will come here and spend $500."

When the casino first opened, local business owners were offered low-interest loans through the city to improve the facades of their stores, he said.

Casino operators must pay a $2 tax for each person who walks through their turnstiles. The revenue is split equally between the state and the local government where the casino is located. It's up to the local government what to fund with the casino tax.

From July 2009 through May of this year, 902,731 people visited the Lady Luck Casino in Caruthersville. During the same period, 2,108,535 people visited Boonville's Isle of Capri Casino.

Boonville Mayor Julie Thacher describes Isle of Capri as a "very good corporate partner."

"IOC give back to the community in many different ways, with financial support and employee participation in community events, activities and projects," Thacher said. "It provides a revenue stream for our city to make needed improvements to aging infrastructure."

The casino also provides jobs, Thacher said. The Boonville casino employs 550 people, the Caruthersville casino 300, according to Jill Haynes, senior director for corporate communications at Isle of Capri Casinos St. Louis headquarters.

Casino jobs vary from valet parking to cooks to slot technicians to security and finance officers, she said.

A former Caruthersville casino employee who asked not be identified said the casino does have a lot of jobs but that workers are underpaid.

Casino management disagrees.

"Hourly wages are competitive with like jobs in the communities where we operate," Haynes said.

Both Boonville and Caruthersville had organized opposition to gambling in their communities, but voters approved ballot measures to allow casinos to come in.

Boonville's mayor and several business owners in Caruthersville said they have not seen an increase in crime in their communities since the casinos have opened.

"We had our bad parts of town before, and we still have those," Mansfield said. "Our police force is actually bigger now because we have more money going into the city from the casino."

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent addresses:

100 Isle of Capri Blvd., Boonville, MO

777 E. 3rd St., Caruthersville, MO