BOYD EYES LATE-'95 OPENING

Three major items remain before Boyd Gaming Corp. begins construction of its $51.1 million riverboat gambling project in Cape Girardeau.

Maunty Collins, a senior vice president and director of central region operations for Boyd Corp., said Wednesday the Cape Girardeau project should be operating within 10 months after construction begins.

"We're working with a positive direction on everything," said Collins. "We'd like to start construction early in 1995."

Collins; H. Dan Garrigan, architect with Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects of Memphis; Sam Marshall of Las Vegas, Boyd construction superintendent; and Tom McPherson of Las Vegas, who is with Boyd Real Estate and Development, met with Cape Girardeau officials here Wednesday.

"We are working to finish up the development agreement with the city," said Collins. "This is one of the major items we have to accomplish before starting construction."

Other items before construction begins include reaching an agreement with the Corps of Engineers and receiving a Missouri gambling license.

Boyd representatives will meet with Corp officials soon. The company already has submitted one gambling license request to the Missouri Gaming Commission for an operation at Kansas City.

"It was good to touch base with the city again," Collins said of Wednesday's visit.

The meeting here was the first with city officials since the project was placed on hold a few months ago to await the outcome of the Nov. 8 election, in which Missouri voters approved slot machines for gambling boats.

"We had an excellent meeting," said Collins. "Basically we just got together and discussed getting back on track. We needed to sit down and learn what we had to do, and everything went well."

Cape Girardeau City Manager J. Ronald Fischer agreed.

"This is the first meeting in a few months," said Fischer. "It was good to touch base. The Boyd people had some questions and we had some questions."

In addition to Fischer, participating in the meeting were Ken Eftink, city planner and project director of the Boyd project; Doug Leslie, assistant city manager; Warren Wells, city attorney; Kent Bratton, city planner; and Tom Neumeyer, downtown ward councilman.

"There were no surprises," said Fischer. "Everything is moving along. We'll be working with the Boyd people to keep things moving smoothly."

Much of the paperwork has been completed for contract negotiations with the city, said Fischer. That includes an impact study report on water and sewer lines and streets.

The Boyd plan for downtown includes a $26.4 million land-based facility with a parking garage and retail space. Boyd will take delivery of its riverboat in December or January. The boat will remain moored in Louisiana until the docking facility is ready at Cape Girardeau.