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Gambling begins in Riverside Rachel Gallegos Iowa City Press-Citizen September 1, 2006 RIVERSIDE -- Investors and special guests bubbled with excitement Thursday night as they were the first to eat and play on opening night of the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort "You can't compare it. It's fantastic. Better than Las Vegas," Louie Roby of West Point said. Waitresses circled the casino with trays of sandwiches, mini-quiches and flutes of champagne while guests took advantage of the more than three hours of private gaming. The casino and resort opened to the general public at 9 p.m. "I'm so excited this night is finally here," chief executive officer Dan Kehl said. "It feels surreal ... like one of those out-of-body experiences." Kehl said he enjoyed having family and friends around for the opening celebration. "It's like a great big family reunion," he said. The $140 million project opened two years to the day after 52.2 percent of Washington County voters approved the gambling referendum, the closest margin of any of the 15 county gambling referendum votes that took place in 2003 and 2004. Rather than a ribbon cutting, Kehl led a toast at the end of the grand opening program. "May the work that you do be the play that you love," he said. Even though things looked perfect to guests when the program started at 5 p.m., there were many last-minute touches. Kehl said he was making beds until 11:30 p.m. Wednesday and casino marketing director Cheryl Good said money went into the cash drawer in the gift shop right before 5 p.m. Iowa Racing and Gaming commissioner Kate Cutler said the commission is excited about the Riverside casino and resort opening. With a variety of features, including a spa and golf course, Cutler said she thought the facility "was wonderful ... the most wonderful thing to bring to Eastern Iowa." Riverside Mayor Bill Poch said he expects the casino and resort to revitalize the small town. "We're excited to say that because of what's happening here today Riverside will flourish, Washington County will flourish," he said. Although there was free food and beverage in the casino, some guests ate at one of the resort's four restaurants. "It's fabulous," said Chris Dolan of Cedar Rapids, who ate with his wife, Sue, at Robert's Buffet. "We think everything is first class." A sales associate for Century Laundry Distributing, Dolan said his company was the laundry consultant for the resort. "We feel very privileged as a company that they chose to work with an Iowa-based company," he said. Along with hiring about 950 employees to work in the casino and resort, the investors are Iowa residents, and many of the 65 building subcontractors were Iowa-based companies, casino officials have said. Felis Gallues, who works with the Wells Fargo gaming division out of Reno, Nev., said she thought the casino "is absolutely gorgeous." "This is a phenomenal resort for Iowa," she said. "This is by far what you would consider a Nevada casino at its finest." Once the opening ceremony finished, many headed straight for the slots. Leona Vincent played a penny machine. She put in $10 and was down to only $3 when she got lucky. She hit a double, a triple and a 7 on her single line slot machine, which won her 4,520 points or $45.20. "It's beautiful," Vincent said about the casino. "Just a wonderful place to come." A Fort Madison resident, she said the Riverside casino was "completely different" from the Catfish Bend riverboat casino. "We like our boat down there, but this is awesome," she said. Allen Gray, also a Fort Madison resident, agreed. "This makes our boat in Fort Madison/Burlington look like a johnboat," he said. "It's going to be a little hard to get on the boat at home now. "I'm just glad I'm an investor." "Me too," Vincent said. |
Jim Walters Iowa City Press-Citizen September 1, 2006 Regular readers of the Wall Street Journal often are amazed by a marked disjunction between the paper's news reporting and its editorial opinions. Recently, this near schizophrenia has been most pronounced in reports and opinions concerning the Iraq war, global warming and trickle-down economics. Press-Citizen readers were treated to a somewhat similar display Monday when the paper included an eight-page "news" supplement on the opening of the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort while "opining" that the project was "still a gamble for [the] local economy." "Shuffle Up and Play," encouraged the P-C's supplement -- with detailed instructions on playing poker, craps, roulette, blackjack and the slots. The few cautions mentioned in this free casino advertising section are minimized as no real threat to students, problem gamblers or the community. Everything is under control. After chronicling the P-C's opposition to the expansion of casino gambling and the Riverside enterprise itself, the Monday editorial goes on to encourage local leaders to "make the most of this opportunity" (an ironic hat tip to its own supplement?), but reminds them that "they can't confuse the money changing hands at a casino with real, long-term investment in the community." Reality check. They already have. Horse racing, the lotteries and then the "riverboats." Once the state opened the door to gambling (and became dependent on that revenue stream), its continuing expansion was inevitable. The only setback gambling has taken was the repeal of TouchPlay -- not much of a setback at all because that Stanek-devised obscenity threatened the casinos themselves. Riverside will be "on the water" over its vinyl bladders, and its owners will close roads and get water as they please. They will get whatever they want. But here's the reality folks. Your regular visit to the Riverside Casino will cost you about $57 -- the average loss for Iowa casino visitors last year (not including visits to the three American Indian casinos). That's not counting your drinks, tips or the cost of getting down to Riverside. Chances are the average loss in this casino will be higher than $57 because somebody is going to have to pay for all those "amenities" -- like the golf course, events center, etc. Most of this money won't be recirculating in the community. It won't be supporting honest local businesses. Can we afford this? Can we afford the costs of increased policing, crime, embezzlements, divorces, child neglect, bankruptcies and suicides? The truth is, no one is going to be keeping track of any of this. Can you personally afford to gamble? Got enough in the bank to put your kids through college and retire? Paid off that mortgage? Got enough socked away for this winter's heating bills? Ready for the threatened dismemberment of Social Security, Medicare and your pension plan? If you're really hard up for casino-style entertainment, here's an idea. Put up some flashing lights in your bathroom. Put on the music of your choice. Get some really nice hors d'oeuvres and mix your own drinks. Now start flushing $20 bills down the toilet. When you've finally had enough "entertainment," at least you can remind yourself that you saved on gas and didn't pollute the environment. Casinos are for losers.
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