BOYD MAY SEEK OK TO OPERATE DOCKSIDE

The architect for Boyd Gaming Corp. said he believes Boyd will request dockside privileges for its Cape Girardeau operation.

Gary R. Wagoner, project director for construction for Boyd's project here, said he believed Boyd would ask that the riverboat not be required to cruise the river "though I can't say that with absolute certainly."

Boyd has requested, and received, dockside privileges at its Kansas City project, which is now under construction.

Wagoner, an architect with Askew Nixon Ferguson architects of Memphis, Tenn., said that once things fall into place, Cape Girardeau will become a beehive of construction activity.

Worries that the "cold feet" syndrome, which has plagued gaming development in the St. Louis area will extend to Cape Girardeau are unfounded, Wagoner said.

"This project is real," he said. "Barring a bolt from the blue, this project will be built. As architects, we're working on it. We're convinced it will be built. Once the paperwork is in place, you'll see activity like this place has never seen before, probably around the clock."

But, until the Crops of Engineers' evaluation is received, discussions with the city cannot be finalized, Wagoner said, adding: "Based on Corps recommendations, the site might shift some, we don't know. It doesn't make sense to put things into a hard and fast document when they might be changed. When things do fall in place, they'll fall in place in a hurry."

"Until the Corps of Engineers OKs a site, there is no reason to apply for a gaming permit," Wagoner said. "I don't see any problems. But, the wheels of government turn slowing. Working with the Corps can take months."

Wagoner said he would "put a $1,000" bet on dirt being moved on the project this year.

Wagoner added what when construction begins, efforts will be made to prevent disruption to downtown shopping traffic. One of the first items to be addressed will be preparation of a surface parking area for workers.

Wagoner spoke to a group of downtown merchants, city officials and others at a Downtown Merchants Association meeting this week.

Once Boyd gets the green light on its $51.2 million project, "you'll have an avalanche of workers in the downtown area, working 20 hours a day (two 10-hour shifts), six days a week, until completion."

Wagoner, using slides, discussed the building of Sam's Town, a hotel and gambling hall in Tunica County in Mississippi. The 400,000-square-foot project went from planning to completion in six months.

"That project included four restaurants, six lounges, an entertainment facility and a 90,000-square-foot casino," Wagoner said. The project involved more than 145,000 lineal feet of piling, 200 tons of steel and 250 miles of electrical wire."

During the project, planners scoured the countryside for old barns.

"Seven barns in the Tunica area were purchased and torn down, with the old barn wood used in Sam's Town decor," Wagoner said.

There are currently nine casinos operating in Tunica County. Before the casino development, a typical year for building permit fees in the county would net about $5,000. "In 1994, the total permit fees in Tunica County were $500,000," Wagoner said, adding that he doesn't see "any problems" with the proposed casino development for Cape Girardeau.

Time spent in construction on the Cape Girardeau project, which calls for a $26.4 million land-based facility -- parking garage, restaurant, lounge, loading facilities and a $24.7 million riverboat casino -- "depends on the motivation of the Boyd Group," Wagoner said.

No general project contractor has been selected, but Wagoner said he expects to see the project broken into two major parts: A marine crew and a land crew.