ILLINOIS TOWN GAMBLING ON CALINO DRAW

METROPOLIS, Ill. -- Officials with Players International are gambling that a riverboat casino based in Metropolis will pay off.

In fact, the company is betting $18 million on the success of the venture, said David Fishman, vice chairman of Players International.

Fishman was in Metropolis Friday to announce plans for start-up of the gambling operation on the Ohio river. Gambling is expected to begin in April 1993.

A group of about 100 business people and community members were on hand, in addition to a group of about 10 protesters.

The Players Riverboat Casino is under construction in Jennings, La. and is scheduled to be delivered by late February 1993.

The 1,200-passenger riverboat will house three decks of casinos featuring about 650 slot machines and 38 table games, including blackjack, craps, roulette, big six and live poker. In addition each deck will have a video poker pub, Fishman said.

The company has purchased a riverboat-style barge, which will be permanently moored on the Ohio River at the foot of Ferry Street in Metropolis. The barge facility will house the ticket center, gift shops, two restaurants and a banquet and meeting facility.

Formerly the Belle Angeline Restaurant in St. Louis, the barge was recently moved to Walker Boat Yard in Paducah, Ky. where it is being renovated.

Fishman anticipates opening the barge restaurants in October.

Players International has also leased about 2,000 feet of riverfront from the city of Metropolis and has purchased or has optioned to purchase six acres of private property adjacent to the riverfront.

Players will begin marketing its riverboat casino next month to groups and tour operators for April 1993 excursions.

"This has been a two-year process for me and my company," Fishman said. "Players began two years ago looking for potential sites for a riverboat casino in the state of Illinois."

Company officials first visited Metropolis in November of 1990.

"I was kind of taken back by Metropolis," Fishman said. "There was abundant land for parking and an excellent site for future development like a hotel."

But he said a deciding factor is the fact that over 8 million people, potential customers, live within a 200-mile radius of Metropolis.

In October 1991, the Illinois Gaming Board gave the Players project the green light.

"There is no way to guarantee success, but where a company is willing to to invest $18 million, they are taking a risk," Fishman said.

"We have no signs from the existing boats that this will be anything but a success."

Fishman said, "Hopefully we will be as successful as other places in Illinois." He said the Alton Belle riverboat casino has 60,000 to 70,000 passengers per month.

He anticipates that the floating casino in Metropolis will draw 600,000 to 750,000 passengers per year.

When excursions begin in April 1993, Fishman said each cruise will last three hours, and he expects to have four to six cruises per day.

Admission will be charged to enter the boat, in addition to costs of gambling. That fee has not been set, Fishman said.

The state receives 20 percent of the gaming revenue from the boat, Fishman explained. The city receives 25 percent of the state's 20 percent. In other words, the city receives 5 percent of the total gaming revenue.

In addition, a $2 tax is charged every passenger on the boat. The state gets $1 and the city gets $1.

Metropolis Mayor Bill Kommer said, "The city has worked long and hard for this project. Our unemployment is 11.5 to 12 percent. The 365 jobs this project will bring means a lot to the city."

Fishman believes the boat will be a boost to tourism in the city. He added that most of the gamblers will be from other states. "That's outside dollars coming in."

Kommer said: "We believe people will drive here from Cape Girardeau and from all over Southeast Missouri. We believe they will drive from a 200-mile radius."

Protesting the development was a small group of people, representing Metropolis churches.

"We are opposed to riverboat gambling. We are not opposed to progress," said Wiley Godfrey of Metropolis. "But we feel a sinful activity is not progress."

"When Mr. Fishman makes a statement that the town is behind it, that's not necessarily true. Not everyone is for it," said Richard Keplinger.

Margaret Godfrey added that she felt citizens in the city should have had an opportunity to vote on the issue, "instead of businessmen pushing this thing through."