CARUTHERSVILLE REAPS FINANCIAL HARVEST FROM ITS RIVERBOAT

The Pemiscot County town of Caruthersville, situated on the east side of Missouri's Bootheel in a region that suffers from excessively high unemployment, has suddenly found itself in a happy dilemma. The city of only 7,200 people is beginning to see the financial benefits of a gambling boat, and the city is scrambling to find ways to spend the money.

The source of Caruthersville's fortune is Casino Aztar, which began operations in a $50 million complex on the Mississippi River in April 1995. Aztar had promised Caruthersville big money if it could run a riverboat there, and it is delivering to the tune of $2.2 million a year.

The riverboat couldn't have come at a better time. A year before it opened, the Brown Shoe Co. plant shut down, putting more than 400 people out of work in a county burdened by an unemployment rate that exceeded 15 percent in 1994. Aztar put 500 people to work.

Caruthersville government was struggling before Casino Aztar came along. But since hitting the jackpot with Aztar, the city already has obtained 15 new vehicles, including police cars; new sewage lift stations and trash-hauling equipment; new streets and downtown lighting; and a new computer system at City Hall. City workers have been given pay raises.

Although Caruthersville's contract with Casino Aztar expires in 1998, Aztar is not about to pull out of town. It plans additional developments along the downtown riverfront that includes a casino complex, and land-based pavilion with restaurant, snack bar, sports bar and gift shop.

Caruthersville isn't alone in its newly found wealth. Other Missouri cities that have allowed riverboats and casinos to open have enjoyed similar benefits.

Caruthersville is an example of a town that is putting its fortune to good use.