Who can blame Davenport city leaders for wanting to ditch the Isle of Capri, Inc. for another gambling operator promising a new $75-million land-based casino and a larger slice of the gambling take.
But don't try to sell the deal as a downtown development bonanza, or claim a casino downtown will result in "synergy" to boost the urban business core.
Every casino project to hit the Quad Cities - from Bettendorf to Davenport to Rock Island - has claimed it would trigger investments in the downtown/riverfront with other businesses locating nearby. The reality has been just the opposite.
Gamblers do what gamblers want to do, lose their money gambling. They have no interest in art museums, fine restaurants or dinner theaters.
In Davenport, the current casino riverboat has actually become a symbol of downtown decay, an eyesore on an otherwise beautiful Mississippi River view. When the Isle proposed taking up more riverfront a few years ago with an adjoining hotel, concerned citizens and public officials fortunately scotched the idea.
In Rock Island, downtown businesses gave full support to ridding the riverfront of the Jumer's casino boat to open up the river for a splendid new park drawing thousands of residents to enjoy the view and actually boost activity in the downtown.
In Bettendorf, the Isle's casino boat and hotel complex is surrounded by a vacant parking lot (used frequently for truck auctions) and a vacant lot (currently being used as a site for depositing dredging spoils). Its gambling operation with low-cost buffets and discounted or complimentary rooms has siphoned business from competing operations downtown and elsewhere in the city.
The disconnect between gambling joints and economic revival around them isn't confined just to our riverfront experiences. In Central City, Colorado, home to at least a half dozen casinos, there are virtually no other businesses one might expect to come across in a "tourist" area. No art galleries. No t-shirt shops. No restaurants outside the casinos.
Davenport does have it right cutting loose the casino boat from its prime riverfront land, and by making the casino invest in a building the company will actually be a taxpaying citizen like everyone else in town.
But don't bet on "synergy" with a casino. That's been a losing hand for a long time.
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Greg Gackle is editor of bettendorf.com and a long-time resident of the city. He is a former newspaper reporter, corporate public relations flak and has operated his own communications firm for the past 20 years.
