Developers still competing to build casinos

Wednesday, April 5, 2000 | 10:56 a.m.

BOONVILLE, Mo. -- Boonville officials have accepted the bid of Isle of Capri for a casino development in the city's riverfront area, but the issue of who gets to build a Boonville area casino remains unsettled.

Davis Gaming, which had planned a casino project here, later sold its rights to Mississippi-based Isle of Capri Casinos Inc., which has casinos in its home state as well as Louisiana and Colorado.

But Bill Grace, who has casinos elsewhere in Missouri, is still pushing his rival plan for a casino on farmland in Howard County, across the Missouri River from Boonville.

He recently asked the Missouri Gaming Commission to reconsider the proposal he first submitted three years ago.

The Boonville City Council voted Monday night to accept the Isle of Capri bid for what had once been the Victorian Star Casino project, approving the fourth set of contract modifications.

Mayor Bernard "Bud" Kempf also accepted an $850,000 check from Davis Gaming, an amount it was obligated to pay for city improvements connected with the project.