Is the Davenport casino worth it? - CBS4 - WHBF Quad Cities, IL-IA News Weather Sports

Is the Davenport casino worth it?

By: Kate Pabich
kpabich@cbs4qc.com

Is a new land based casino in Davenport  worth the cost?

That's the question some folks want city leaders to answer.
 
At Wednesday night's council meeting, the city manager updated Davenport leaders on the new interstate casino plans.

But some citizens say they're moving too fast.

"I just see that as really risky, I know you've done a lot of work and city folks have done a lot of work but it still seems like we're going on a hope and a prayer without any information."

But the city disagrees, as alderman Gene Meeker says, a lot happens behind the scenes.

"Well it looks awful fast for people who are out in the public who are not as involved in as many meetings and sessions that we do but we've been at this a long time, in fact as the mayor mentioned we've been at this 5 years."

He adds that financing is up in the air, but the council is looking into all the choices out there.

"We could be going for bank financing we could do a combination of bonds and bank financing there are just so many options we can use."

Also in the casino update: new looks.  Ingenus Management took in public opinion about the first proposal and drew up two more for the city to consider.

City officials say there are still options for the interstate location: it's not set in stone that it has to be at the intersection of 80 and 280.