September 26th is to see the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission visit the proposed gambling sites situated in Downtown Cedar Rapids. The visit comes as the next step towards the Commission’s decision whether to grant the three proposed casinos for Cedar Rapids with a new gambling license.
As revealed by Brian Ohorilko, a Racing and Gaming administrator, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission has organised its meeting in the city, so that it would be able to visit all three casino sites. According to Mr. Ohorilko, the Commission’s meeting would also be focused on attracting more public attention towards the three casino proposals in the area.
New Cedar Rapids Casino Proposals
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is to look over the three separate plans for the casino proposals. Two development groups – the Cedar Rapids Development Group and Wild Rose – have made proposals for several different casinos in the area. The Commission is still expected to make an official decision on the proposals, but this will not happen on the day of the visit, which is to see its members and staff go to the sites from a large casino as well as some smaller urban or boutique casinos.
Mr. Ohorilko further revealed that the site visits would last about 45 minutes each, and after that, around 1:00 PM the Commission would hear some public opinions on the matter.
Then, commissioners are expected to learn more about the local gambling market. That is exactly the reason why they are to seek the opinions of the vendors that have been focused on doing a gambling market study on October 12th, when another meeting is scheduled in Emmettsburg. The vote of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is to vote over the following month. According to the information revealed by Ohorilko, the last meeting of the Commission for the current year is scheduled for November 16th at the Diamond Jo Dubuque. The Commission is to make its decision at the time after taking into account the applications and the previous steps in the process.
As mentioned above, two operators made a total of three casino proposals in the area. First, it was the Cedar Rapids Development Group which offered the Commission the same casino project, Cedar Crossing on the River, that was officially rejected in 2014. The other proposal of the group was for a smaller casino called Cedar River Central. On the other hand, the Wild Rose casino development group made another proposal for a smaller casino which is planned to be located in the eastern part of the state. The group has claimed that opening a new casino in the area would not have a negative impact on the already existing gaming businesses in the region.
- Author
Daniel Williams
