VIEWS DIFFER ON WHETHER GAMBLING FIRM DELIVERED PROMISES IN METROPOLIS

METROPOLIS, Ill. -- Not everything Players International Inc. originally proposed for Metropolis back in December 1990 has materialized.

For instance, entertainment and dining were to be offered on one deck of the boat, and the company talked about building a ticketing office on Front Street. At the time, company officials said a dock would be built downstream from Metropolis' public boat ramp.

The boat that arrived offers no entertainment other than gambling, and the restaurant and ticketing office are located on separate barges attached to the dock.

Players took the city's public boat ramp for its own landing site, and so far has not made good on a commitment to restore the ramp.

"They were supposed to put it back," Mayor Bill Kommer said. "They haven't put it back. They will."

Some in Metropolis, including Fire and Police Commission President Bill Carrell, are uneasy about Players' decision to locate their restaurant and ticket office on barges instead of on land.

Carrell says it's too easy for the company to float everything away if the gambling market here sours.

"They said they were going to be building $30-to-$40 million worth. As far as operating facilities go, they haven't built anything. They can take off and be gone with everything but their office and land."

Referring to pledges being made by the Boyd Group to voters in Cape Girardeau, he said, "They better get it in writing."

Kommer shrugs off such objections. "They said they were going to build a ticket office and restaurant. You might as well say Players has done what they said they would."

Players' announcement last week of its intention to build a 120-room motel with a 400-seat theater at the waterfront in association with Amerihost Properties has most everyone including the mayor breathing just a bit easier.

The motel will be built on land currently used for parking at the casino. As a result, the city will allow Players to use city land as a parking lot.