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Isle Of Capri Opens It Doors

A line of hundreds - if not thousands - of casino-goers snaked through the Isle of Capri parking lot on Tuesday as they waited for the casino to finally open its doors.

At Tuesday’s ribbon cutting ceremony, Isle of Capri president and CEO Virginia McDowell taunted the chilly crowd by asking  “Are you feeling lucky?” 

The cold - but anxious - crowd responded affirmatively. They obviously thought it was their lucky day.

Isle of Capri’s opening was the culmination of events that began with a big idea by downtown businessmen David Knight and Jim Riley. It became a possibility in 2010 when a St. Louis casino lost its license. The casino became a reality later that year when Cape Girardeau voters backed the city’s casino plan and state regulators awarded the 13th, and final, casino license to the southeast Missouri city.

Now, on this blustery autumn morning, the casino opened its doors two months ahead of schedule, according to McDowell, who lauded her company’s efforts to hire local workers.

“We had 9,000 applications for jobs, and we picked the 700 best people you are going to meet when you go through those doors. And I am proud to say 80 percent of those people live within 50 miles of Cape Girardeau,” McDowell said.

Mayor Harry Rediger looked at the casino from a bigger picture. He sees it not only as an employment and revenue source, but also as an economic driver for the region.

“It is a vast improvement to this formerly stagnant area of our city,” Rediger said. “ It also creates and enhances the probability of future commercial and industrial and residential growth in the surrounding areas. There’s plenty of opportunity. People are knocking on our door as we speak."

David Knight is one of local business leaders who helped secure the casino. Standing inside the casino, Knight beamed with joy as customers flooded in to try their hand at the nearly 1,000 slot machines and 28 gaming tables.

“It’s a $135 million dollar project. 700 jobs. It’s a quantum leap forward for the city of Cape Girardeau and actually for the whole area,” Knight said. “The casino gives us the rare opportunity to reconnect the community with the Mississippi River and also to provide redevelopment of a blighted area, providing jobs and opportunities that in this economy are hard to come by.”

Jim Riley, Knight’s business partner, hopes the casino will bring incremental growth to the city’s tax revenue, city awareness, and incoming traffic.

“A million people a year are going to be coming to Cape Girardeau to visit. And now we have the opportunity to turn a three hour visit here into a six hour, or a 18 hour, or a 24 hour visit to Cape Girardeau,” Riley said. “And the more times they do that, there’s a chance they’ll want to locate here.”

Daniel Lancaster from Cape Girardeau was one of the first inside the casino. He was looking forward to seeing the new casino, but he had mixed feelings about having a casino in town.

“I can see the good and the bad. I’m a long-time gambler. I can see the traps of gambling sometimes, too,” Lancaster said. “ I know it will bring a lot of jobs and bring something this country needs more of. That’s a good thing.”

In addition to the gaming facilities, the $135 million casino boasts five restaurants and a view of the Mississippi River.

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