CASINO EFFORT REMAINS ALIVE

SCOTT CITY -- Councilman Kevin Greshem is gambling on Lady Luck to pay economic dividends for the small Scott County town.

But the Missouri Gaming Commission holds all the cards.

Four years after Lady Luck Gaming Corp. submitted an application to construct a $65 million casino complex along the Diversion Channel near Scott City, the commission has yet to act.

Greshem, who heads the Scott City Council's gaming committee, wants the commission to grant a license to Lady Luck.

Greshem has requested to speak to the gaming commission when the board convenes Wednesday in Jefferson City. He also has written letters to local officials and state lawmakers in an effort to garner public support for the project.

"We are more or less tired of waiting. We would like an answer this time," said Greshem.

He said Scott City government could receive at least $1 million a year in payments from Lady Luck if the proposed casino becomes a reality.

"Our infrastructure could use a million dollars a year," said Greshem.

He said streets and sewers in the town of 4,300 people need major improvements. "We are growing almost faster than what we can stand."

Lady Luck remains interested in the possibility of building a casino at Scott City, company spokesman Bob Walsh said. But the Las Vegas-based gambling corporation hasn't received any indication the gaming commission is ready to consider the application.

"At this point in time we don't actually have a site," said Walsh, director of corporate public relations.

Lady Luck has looked at a possible site on the Diversion Channel along Interstate 55 near Rhodes Travel Center. The Diversion Channel empties into the Mississippi River.

Greshem said Lady Luck isn't interested in setting up shop on the Mississippi at the Southeast Missouri Regional Port.

"They want to be along the interstate," said Greshem, who met with two top officials of Lady Luck in Las Vegas two weeks ago. Greshem was vacationing at the time.

Greshem said the Diversion Channel site should be suitable, particularly since the state allows boats in moats. Casinos initially had to be on riverboats that had to cruise the Mississippi or Missouri rivers. Today the state allows casinos to operate on permanently moored barges.

But since the commission isn't rushing to award new gambling licenses, the future of the proposed development remains uncertain.

"It is just kind of sitting out there in limbo," Walsh said.

Lady Luck continues to pay for a billboard along I-55 near Scott City. Greshem said the company also gives $1,500 a year for fireworks for Scott City's summer festival.

Walsh said it helps keep Lady Luck's "toe in the door" for a possible casino development in Scott City. But at this point, Lady Luck isn't ready to buy land for the project. "That would be premature at this point," Walsh said.

Greshem said both Lady Luck and the city deserve an answer from the gaming commission.

Southeast Missouri has only one gambling boat, Casino Aztar in Caruthersville.

"We just think they are overlooking Southeast Missouri," he said.

Only two riverboats are on the Mississippi River, including the one at Caruthersville. The rest are docked on the Missouri River.

Greshem said there is a market for gambling in Scott City and the surrounding region. "The money is here to support a casino," he said.