Cape casino 'won't happen' without council endorsement, mayor says

A Cape Girardeau casino is unlikely unless the city council endorses the idea, Mayor Jay Knudtson said Monday night.

The possibility that a development group led by businessmen David Knight and Jim Riley will apply for a casino license opened up last week when the Missouri Gaming Commission and Pinnacle Entertainment agreed the President Casino will be closed July 1. That will make one of Missouri's 13 gaming licenses available to a new casino.

In a discussion during the council work session, Knudtson and city manager Scott Meyer discussed Cape Girardeau's history with trying to lure a casino and what would be required if Knight and Riley find a gambling company willing to be partners in the venture.

Voters approved locating a casino in Cape Girardeau in 1993. Later that year, the city signed an agreement with Boyd Gaming Group to develop a downtown casino, but the effort stalled. That 1993 vote allowing a local casino is still valid, Meyer said, but the gaming commission would expect a resolution endorsing any application from the city.

Meyer said he's already "had conversations with several interested parties" and contacts from the gaming commission about the available license.

"We believe that without an endorsement from the council that went along with an application, the application would be difficult if not impossible to be approved," Meyer told the council.

Knight, owner of Ole Hickory Pits, and Riley, owner of Red Letter Communications, have purchased or secured options on property along North Main Street. While their plan, unveiled in 2008 as they tried to apply for a license before a statewide cap was imposed, included a hotel, casino and other construction, any proposal would need close scrutiny, city planning director Ken Eftink said.

An impact study, a site plan and a detailed development agreement would all require city approval, he said.

When gambling was first approved, the vote came at a time when no casinos were operating in Missouri, Knudtson said. Cape Girardeau will have an opportunity to study the effect of casinos, good and bad, in other towns, he said.

"The point I wanted to make is to make sure everybody understood that without a council endorsement it won't happen," he said.

Voters will alter the council by electing at least three, and perhaps four, new members on April 6. Ward 4 council member Loretta Schneider, whose term is not up this year, said the city needs to be open to the idea of a casino.

"It is the kind of business we can't just reject on the surface," she said.

In other action, the council approved a $1.01 million contract with Nip Kelley Equipment Co. to build the Fountain Street extension from Morgan Oak Street to William Street. The bid must be approved by the Missouri Department of Transportation before work can commence.

The council also approved a $248,900 agreement with J.W. Transport LLC to build the North Park Trail from the existing Cape La Croix Trail to County Park North.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO