Davenport is moving forward with its casino plans by driving up to Dubuque, Iowa to see theirs in action.
Nearby two dozen city leaders - including Mayor Bill Gluba, several city aldermen, and representatives from the city's newly-formed Davenport Community Improvement Corporation - took the trip on Tuesday, January 8th, 2013 to learn more about Dubuque's unique community-based casino model and see if a similar model could work here in the Quad Cities.
Dubuque has two casinos. Diamond Jo is a privately-owned casino and is run much like Davenport's Rhythm City Casino, which is owned by the Isle of Capri Corporation. Dubuque's other casino - the Mystique - is community-based and is operated by the Dubuque Racing Association (the DRA). Both casinos give portions of their revenues to the DRA - which is similar to our non-profit Riverboat Development Authority - but the Mystique can give more since it doesn't have any shareholders. All revenues from the Mystique stay in the community of Dubuque.
The Mystique model is similar to the one Davenport hopes to implement. City leaders want to give a bigger percentage of casino revenue to the RDA, which in return grants money to hundreds of organizations in the Quad Cities.
The next step is for Davenport's selection committee to choose which proposal they like the best. Three developers presented their plans on Monday, January 7th, 2013. You can see them here. Once chosen, city council will vote on their favorite. The city - along with the DCIC and the Isle of Capri Corporation -- plan to present their model to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission in the spring for approval.