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The Washington County delegation made its presentation before the commission on Wednesday morning.
Those participating in the presentation before the commissioners were Dan Kuehl (whose parents had the first riverboat gambling license in Iowa and CEO of Riverside Casino & Golf Resort), Tim Putney (president of the foundation), Reece Jones (golf course designer), and Joe Massa (general manager of Catfish Bend Casino).
The commission members are scheduled to tour application sites including Riverside. The Commission will hold a public hearing on the license applications at Stoney Creek Inn in Johnston. No public comments were permitted during the 45-minute presentations last week.
The Racing & Gaming Commission is scheduled to vote on which of the 10 applicants will be granted a license. The commission has not indicated how many licenses will be granted.
Kuehl stressed that the Riverside casino would be Iowa-owned and would feature a world-class golf resort. It will be a destination resort, which will draw from a population base of over 350,000. Plus it is at least 50 miles from any other resort.
Kuehl told the commissioners that the casino-resort would cost $107 million, and feature an 18-hole golf course, 1,100 slot machines, 40 table games, a 200-room hotel, 1,200 seat entertainment center and RV Park. He projected revenues of $83 million the first year, and it would pay out $154 million in state and local fees in the first five years. He said it would employ 850.
Ron Erickson, chairman of KKE Architects, and Mohammed Lawal, principal architect, told how the casino and hotel would feature several restaurants including a Maid of Iowa buffet and an up-scale steakhouse (named after Ruth Kuehl) and a retail area emphasizing Iowa products. They noted their firm has designed a number of casinos and other top attractions such as the Mall of America in Minnesota.
Rees Jones of Rees Jones, Inc., said he would design an 18-hole golf course on a 300-acre site that would be both, of championship quality and family friendly. Jones has been named by Golf Digest as one of the top three golf course designers in the world. He is nicknamed the "Open Doctor" for his work renovating U. S. Open championship courses for tournaments.
Tim Putney, president of the Washington County Casino Foundation, pointed out his board had members representing each community and rural area in the county. He projected the foundation would be able to distribute $3.2 million to charitable groups in the county annually.
Each year the towns in the county will be distributed 25 percent of those profits on a per capita basis. That would be distributed as follows: Washington, $343,200; Kalona, $111,800; Wellman, $67,600; Brighton, $33,200: Riverside, $45,500; Crawfordsville, $14,300; West Chester, $7,800 and Coppock, $1,200. The rest of the funds would be distributed to schools, emergency services and other community projects. He added it is hoped that the casino would expand tourism in the county including for Kalona and its Amish, quilts, antiques, etc. He said he felt the golf course resort would help bring people to enjoy other attractions in the area.
Putney also stressed that the 850 jobs would have a huge impact on the county and surrounding region.
Joe Massa, general manager of Catfish Bend Casino, concluded the presentation by pointing out that there was widespread community support throughout the county and it would provide an entertainment anchor to the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Corridor. He added it would also be a key to orderly development of Washington County. Already $25,000 has been offered Riverside to help hire a city planner.
He stressed that the casino would continue the Kuehl family tradition of buying Iowa first. He said there would be a good benefits package for 850 employees. He noted the Kuehl family casinos have won a number of awards, state and international. He added the area provides a variety of tourism attractions for those planning extended stays.
Massa said there are currently 500 people with ownership in Catfish Bend and another 500 are being sought to invest in the Washington County Casino & Golf Resort.
Massa said the goal is to make the casino resort the ultimate eastern Iowa destination. He noted this is the largest underserved gaming market in Iowa.
Massa said as of March 22, 168 people had invested just over $10 million in the Washington Count y Casino Resort.
