Our city deserves top-notch downtown casino

By Sioux City Journal

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Once in a lifetime.

That's the kind of opportunity in front of the 18-member board of Missouri River Historical Development, holder of the gaming license for Argosy Casino.

It's absolutely critical for the board to make the right decision about the future of gaming in Sioux City. If it does, it can forever change the face and future of this community.

Bottom line: Sioux City's casino must be moved from the riverfront to downtown, and it must be a facility that draws a variety of visitors to the facility and surrounding businesses.

MRHD has given notice it wants a land-based casino when the Argosy's license expires next year. MRHD is listening to plans to build such a casino from Penn National Gaming, owner of the Argosy. That's the right thing to do. Penn and Argosy have been valuable community partners.

However, if Penn doesn't step up with plans to build a facility that is significantly larger than the current casino, includes the kind of amenities that will make our downtown a destination and that will create significantly more jobs, MRHD should not shy away from opening up the process to outside bidders. It is both entitled and obligated to take such an action should it become necessary.

Because the original MRHD board had the foresight to develop a contract that essentially expires after 20 years, the current MRHD board and our community are in a unique position to play a significant role in determining where a new land-based casino would be located and what amenities and features it should include. Make no mistake, our community holds most, if not all, of the cards.

We believe several current Iowa casino operators will be intensely interested in bidding for the Sioux City contract. These operators would spend at least $100 million on such a project and likely double Argosy's current employment level.

That's great news, but our community can get even more from this deal.

By demanding a downtown Sioux City location, MRHD can set the table for explosive growth in an area that badly needs an infusion of capital and people.

Take a look, for example, at what the Diamond Jo Casino has done for downtown Dubuque. It has changed the look, feel and economic future of that eastern Iowa community. That can happen here, too.

By moving the casino off the Missouri River and into the downtown district, Sioux City's downtown will flourish, leading to more investment, more tax revenue, more jobs and more activity. The move also would open the door to redevelopment of that end of our community's beautiful, showcase riverfront. Riverfront redevelopment combined with redevelopment of the nearby former John Morrell site would transform the gateway to Sioux City from the south.

We applaud MRHD for seizing this opportunity to develop a land-based casino. Now it must take the next step and demand a top-notch facility at a downtown site and work together with the city and other interests, both public and private, to make it happen.