BOYD GAMING WINS THE DRAW

After more than a year-long wait in Cape Girardeau, Boyd Gaming Corp. officials Monday saw their hopes for a riverboat casino here culminate in the city council's endorsement of their riverboat gambling proposal.

Although several people testified at the meeting on behalf of rival Lady Luck Gaming's $58 million proposal, when it came time for a vote, Boyd Gaming's 14-month gamble paid off.

Mayor Gene Rhodes was the only council member present who voted against Councilman Al Spradling III's motion to endorse Boyd's proposal.

Rhodes said the Lady Luck project would bring more annual revenue to the city -- up to $300,000 more by his estimate.

Although supporters also touted the Lady Luck proposal's benefits to a "blighted" south Cape, council members cited the project's impact on existing business as the primary factor in Boyd's favor.

Spradling said the owner of Missouri Dry Dock and Missouri Fleeting, Rob Erlbacher, told him he was "unable to come to any satisfactory arrangement" with Lady Luck, which would lead to the closure of much of his fleeting operation.

That operation serves at least seven other local businesses, Spradling said.

"I cannot condone, and I don't think this council can condone, the loss of jobs in a long-established industry in order to bring in a gambling boat," the councilman added.

Councilman Melvin Gateley said: "This industry promises more jobs, but (it) shouldn't nullify existing jobs at the dry dock."

Councilman Mary Wulfers said the issue at Missouri Dry Dock made her difficult decision "an easy one."

Michael Hlavsa, Lady Luck's chief financial officer, said after the vote that in spite of the company's inability to resolve Erlbacher's concerns, Lady Luck's was a better riverboat proposal.

"We tried very hard to negotiate with him," Hlavsa said. "Unfortunately, a deal couldn't be made. But that doesn't mean a deal wouldn't have been made after the endorsement."

Hlavsa said he was disappointed in the vote, but added that Lady Luck would continue its efforts to secure a gaming license in Cape Girardeau.

The Missouri Gaming Commission has final say on who is granted a gaming license in each Missouri jurisdiction where the issue has garnered local voter approval.

"The door is still open for the state to approve our proposal," Hlavsa said. "We still think it's the best project for Cape Girardeau, and I hope the state will see it that way."

But Maunty Collins, who heads up Boyd Gaming's operations outside of Las Vegas, said he believes the city's endorsement is a "huge step" for the gambling company.

"I think it's absolutely the most important thing that the gaming commission will consider," Collins said.

During the council meeting, several citizens spoke on behalf of Lady Luck's proposal. They cited traffic congestion and river safety as reasons to favor Lady Luck's southern site -- 100 acres from the St. Vincent's Seminary site south to La Cruz Street -- over Boyd's proposed site at the foot of Broadway.

Others -- including the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People -- said Lady Luck offered a unique opportunity to improve the south end of town.

Karen Blumenberg presented the council with a list that included the signatures of 200 "blue collar" Cape Girardeau residents supporting Lady Luck.

And former long-time Cape Mayor Howard Tooke, who owns property that would be included in Lady Luck's proposal, went to bat for the southern site.

"I hope we don't let this opportunity slip past," Tooke said. "That's a blighted area that needs improvement, and I don't know of any other way it will be accomplished."

William Busch, a retired engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said Lady Luck's alternate site for a riverboat dock was the only safe site for such a facility along the Cape Girardeau riverfront.

Richard Steele, a Cape Girardeau attorney hired to represent Lady Luck, asked the council to see past any predilection for Boyd Gaming simply because the company was here first.

"Statistics show that 70 percent of jurors at the close of opening statements have made up their minds about a case," Steele said.

But he contended Lady Luck was a superior project that would benefit all of Cape while improving a blighted area.

"If not Lady Luck, it will never be anybody else," Steele said. "If it's not done now, it will never be done."

In the end, though, council members were nearly unanimous in their support of Boyd Gaming. Councilman Doug Richards called the Boyd proposal "the most secure, long-term financial commitment" for the city.

"Just because we should select the Boyd group, that doesn't have to close out south Cape," he added.