Last Thursday, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission approved a license for the Iowa Greyhound Association to run races at the Dubuque Greyhound Track, as part of a deal approved by state lawmakers and Governor Terry Branstad to close Bluffs Run Greyhound Park in Council Bluffs and have the IGA operate the Dubuque track.
Commission Chair Jeff Lamberti said the IRGC imposed certain conditions since it considers the Dubuque track a new operation under IGA management. “I’m pretty confident they’ll get them done, and a lot of it is just getting contracts in place, coming up with the appropriate security plans, etcetera. As we indicated here, we will hold them to the exact same standards as any other facility,” Lamberti said.
Regarding the dog racetrack and casino in Dubuque, Lamberti noted, “There really has to be a physical separation between those two operations. When it comes to security, when it comes to compliance, things from taking care of the money, counting the money, making sure that we have security plans in place, they just need to get things into place about how they are going to deal with all of that.”
Lamberti added races will not be allowed until the IGA has everything in place. “Some of it is as simple as changing access to certain areas of the facility and so forth, providing security for the actual track enclosure. And it’s just a lot of work that they have to do, and we just want to be sure that they are aware that they are going to be held to the same standards as any other operator,” Lamberti says.
Lamberti said the commission heard only a handful of comments from the public about the changeover. He stated industry insiders are concerned about how a smaller number of racing opportunities will be assigned. “We are going to go from two facilities operating dog tracks to one and not everybody is going to be able to race because there simply aren’t enough races, enough slots. And it’s really trying to ensure that the process for selecting the kennels, the dog owners, etcetera, is fair and transparent,” Lamberti said.
The IGA’s new license will allow it to offer racing from April 29 through September 27, 2015. The Council Bluffs track will run races through next year before it closes.
As part of the legislation, casinos that subsidized dog racing will pay $72 million to be divided among helping the IGA operate the Dubuque track and establishing a retirement fund for dog owners and breeders. Dubuque Greyhound Park attorney Jerry Crawford said, “This second chance at Dubuque does something that I think is enormously important. It gives us a chance to keep the nation’s top greyhound breeding program alive.”
In other Iowa gaming news, in Sioux City, Polk County District Court Judge Eliza Ovrom recently dismissed claims against the IRGC brought by Belle of Sioux City, a subsidiary of Penn National Gaming, which formerly operated the Argosy Sioux City casino. Ovrom ruled the IRGC’s decision to issue a casino license last year to Sioux City Entertainment, owners of the Hard Rock Sioux City, was not unreasonable and did not violate state law, as Penn National argued.
Belle of Sioux City had sued to force the commission to reinstate its license and rescind the new license the commission had granted to the Hard Rock developer.
And in Davenport, aldermen recently voted unanimously to rezone 108.7 acres of land at Interstates 80 and 74 for construction of a casino, hotel and other businesses. The action allows Scott County Casino LLC to break ground on a 40-acre, $110 million land-based casino with a 143-room hotel and event center. Scott County Casino Chief Executive Officer Dan Kehl said, “We’re very excited. This will change the front door of Davenport forever. This will be the number one destination casino in eastern Iowa.”
Mo Hyder, general manager of the Rhythm City riverboat casino, which the land-based casino will replace, said $13.6 million in road work could start next week, allowing casino construction to begin in the spring for a spring 2016 opening.
Also at the city council meeting, Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba asked for an update on the status River 80, a business district designed to complement the casino. The state turned down Davenport’s last River 80 application seeking $17.5 million for the $71.5 million project that will include a hotel, retail, indoor-outdoor water park and performance venue. “When built out, this development will be $250 million. It’s going to mean money to the city, to the schools, to the county, and to the colleges. We’ll be able to hold the line on property taxes,” Gluba said.
