Waterloo gives gambling another go

Gambling is getting a second chance in Waterloo and many folks here hope it's a winning hand.

The tropical-themed Isle Casino & Hotel, built at a cost of $175 million, will open at 7 p.m. Saturday, promising one of Iowa's biggest and most plush gambling operations.

The facility will employ 750 people and expects to attract 2 million admissions annually while raking in gross casino revenues of about $100 million.

The city's first experiment with legal gambling ended in failure 11 years ago when state regulators ordered the financially troubled Waterloo Greyhound Park to close its doors. The track, owned by the National Cattle Congress, was initially a big success, drawing 322,000 gamblers its first season in 1986-87. But its fortunes plunged amid tough competition from other tracks and the growth of casino wagering.

Herb Mohler of Waterloo, who is retired from the Deere & Co. tractor plant here, said he isn't a big gambler. But like many residents, he views the casino as a potential boon to the local economy, which has traditionally relied heavily on meatpacking and farm equipment manufacturing.

"We should have had this years ago," Mohler said.

Linda Gienau, a registered nurse at the University of Northern Iowa's student health center in Cedar Falls, said she hopes the casino will stimulate the area's housing market. "I'm all for it. We need something like this to bring in people from out of the area," she said.

The Waterloo casino is the last of four new casinos authorized two years ago by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. Iowa will now have 20 casinos statewide that attract more than 20 million guests who leave behind more than $1 billion annually.

The new gambling complex has been built by Isle of Capri Casinos of St. Louis, which already operates Iowa riverboat casinos in Davenport, Bettendorf and Marquette. The facility will feature a Las Vegas-style gambling environment with 1,100 slot machines and 35 table games on a single, wide-open floor.

The new casino and hotel offer more luxury and a fancier place to gamble than some other Iowa casinos. Amenities include guest suites with whirlpool baths and fireplaces, several restaurants, a nightclub, and a pool and spa.

The goal is to compete with the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort near Iowa City and with other new Iowa casinos, said Kim Hardy, the Isle's general manager. The closest competition will be about 50 miles away at the tribal-owned Meskwaki casino and hotel, which has undergone a $111 million expansion.

Gamblers arriving at the Waterloo casino will see the latest in high-tech gadgetry, including a digital light display surrounding a two-story cascading water feature. Roulette players will place bets on touch-screen terminals, although there still will be a live dealer and a real roulette wheel. Each hotel room will have wireless Internet access, plus flat-panel televisions.

Nancy Donovan, the Isle of Capri's regional vice president of operations, said the debut of the Waterloo casino will mark the introduction to Iowa of a new upscale brand of property by her company.

"We are creating a new experience, and we are really excited about it," she said.

The opening of the Waterloo casino is the culmination of a long push by some community leaders to bring casino gambling here. In 1994, a campaign to permit slot machines at Waterloo Greyhound Park bitterly split Black Hawk County residents, who narrowly voted twice to reject the plan. By October 2003, 66 percent of voters approved a ballot proposal to permit riverboat-style gambling.

Don Hoth of Waterloo is the president of the nonprofit Black Hawk County Gaming Association, which recruited the casino here. His group expects to receive almost $6 million annually from casino profits that will be used for property tax relief, charitable contributions and other community purposes.

Waterloo Mayor Tim Hurley said the casino is further evidence of the economic turnaround in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area from the dark days of the 1980s, when Iowa's farm economy soured and residential property values here nose-dived.

"We're not a two-horse town anymore," Hurley said, referring to Deere & Co. and the Tyson Foods meat processing plant. He noted that Target Corp. and Ferguson Enterprises have opened large distribution centers here, and there is growth among many other businesses. The city has new restaurants, recreational trails and other attractions. More than $50 million in improvements are planned for downtown Waterloo, including a project to allow boats to navigate on the Cedar River, the mayor said.

But the casino's arrival won't be a blessing for everyone.

At Waterloo's Allen Hospital's gambling treatment program, which now has about 30 clients, the number of problem gamblers seeking help will undoubtedly spike because of the casino's convenience, said Jewel Cooper, the program's coordinator.

"Absolutely," she said. "Instead of driving an hour to gamble, they will have it 10 minutes away. I expect people to stop at the casino on their way to work and on their way home from work."

Lawyer Jay Nardini of Waterloo, a leader of gambling opponents in the 2003 referendum, lives about three-quarters of a mile from the glitzy new casino. He was among those who argued that a casino would cause more crime, bankruptcies and divorce, and that the bulk of gambling profits would flow out of state to the Isle of Capri headquarters.

"I think everybody has kind of resigned themselves to the fact that this is going to occur," Nardini said recently. "This is what a majority of the people wanted, so we will find out whether it is going to be a boon or a bane."