Davenport riverboat sale approved, President to be replaced

David Pitt

Friday, Sept. 15, 2000 | 4:56 a.m.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa - The President riverboat, purchased by a Mississippi company, will be retired and replaced by a newer larger floating casino next spring.

The $58 million sale to Isle of Capri Casinos of Biloxi, Miss. was approved Friday by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

Mary Ellen Chamberlain, president of the Riverboat Development Authority, the nonprofit group that holds the President's gambling license, said it was with "a degree of sadness" that she was recommending the sale and replacement of the 80-year-old President, the longest continually operating riverboat casino in the country.

She said for the last several years the boat has lost customers to a newer aggressively marketed boat across the Mississippi River in Rock Island, Ill.

The current owner, President Casinos Inc., which also owns boats in Mississippi and St. Louis, lost more than $13 million last year and has had cash flow problems because of heavy debt.

In addition, the President's Coast Guard Certification expires in March and Isle of Capri officials said rectifying it would cost too much.

Chamberlain reassured commission members that the sale has broad support, despite early concerns that Isle of Capri, which also owns the riverboat in Bettendorf, might not keep two casinos operating in such close proximity.

"The main concern is that we want to make sure with this merger that we still have two boats and two separate entities," said Commission Chairman Bill Hansen. "We want to maintain competition among those two."

Chamberlain said contracts with Isle of Capri require the company to maintain both casinos.

However, some opponents believe one company should not have two operations so close together.

Phil Pritchard of Davenport opposes the escalation of gambling in Iowa. He protested the sale at Friday's meeting.

"It's a mistake to put that much in Iowa and it's wrong to give one company that much political power," Pritchard said. "It's the commission's job to hold the lid on this phenomenon."

In an attempt to recapture lost business to Rock Island, Isle of Capri will replace the current riverboat, said Mark Lohman, the general manager of The President.

The newer 8-year-old riverboat was used on the Red River in Louisiana. It will be called Rhythm City, a music theme that company officials said will help distinguish it from the Bettendorf operation, which uses a tropical, Caribbean theme.

The Quad-Cities is the first market in which the company has two gambling boats.

The new boat is expected to arrive in Iowa by December and be ready for passengers by April after a $20 million renovation.

Lohman said the President's replacement is a state-of-the-art riverboat with three large decks and 30,000 square feet - enough space for 1,200 slot machines and 32 casino tables. The president had 1,040 machines and 28 tables.

The 825 employees and current management will be kept.

The President's final gambling cruise will be Sept. 29, but it will continue to operate dockside until the new boat arrives.

Isle of Capri Chairman Bernard Goldstein said he has sentimental reasons for wanting to keep the President intact.

"I was 10 years old when my folks took me on an excursion on the boat," he said. "We're going to find a use for it and treat it with tender loving care."

archive