Missouri Gaming Commission to hear casino pitches today

JEFFERSON CITY -- Executives with Isle of Capri and city officials are scheduled to appear before the Missouri Gaming Commission today to make a case that Cape Girardeau should be awarded the state's 13th gaming license.

And they'll have an hour to do it. So will the other two casino companies, who will all be making their pitches at the Doubletree Hotel in Jefferson City. One development firm seeking to create a casino in North County in St. Louis dropped out of today's hearing on Tuesday, saying it needed more time to line up financing for its project.

The five-member panel will hear proposals from representatives of the other three proposed casinos beginning at 9 a.m. The presentations will be one hour each, with casino executives and city officials given about a half-hour each. City manager Scott Meyer and Mayor Harry Rediger will represent Cape Girardeau.

The meeting comes a day after the commission held its regular scheduled meeting Tuesday, which was primarily set to re-issue a license for Ameristar's St. Charles and Kansas City. But the commission also planned to go into close session, according to commission spokeswoman LeAnn McCarthy.

The topic of the closed-session discussions was to be the Missouri Department of Economic Development's study of financial impacts to the four communities and at a state-wide level, McCarthy said.

That report will be made available to the public early next week, she said.

Less than two weeks remain until voters in Cape Girardeau will have first -- and possibly final -- say in whether Isle of Capri will be allowed to bring its $125 million casino to the downtown area.

If voters approve the measure, it will leave Cape Girardeau in the running.

The commission has said it would like to decide who will receive the license before Thanksgiving.

If voters reject gaming in Cape Girardeau, the commission would chose between the remaining three communities -- two in the St. Louis area and one in Sugar Creek near Kansas City. Commission chairman Jim Mathewson has also said not granting a license to any of the companies is a possibility.

Look for coverage of today's hearing later on semissourian.com and in Thursday's Southeast Missourian.