Tuxedos and sequined cocktail dresses were the preferred attire of many of the 1,000-plus guests invited to celebrate the June 16 opening of the 0 million Rhythm City Casino in Davenport, Iowa. The venue, which moved from a riverboat on the Mississippi River to a land-based operation, offers a gaming floor with 800 slots and 34 table games, plus a 106-room hotel and event center.
Dan Kehl, chief executive officer of Elite Casino Resorts, Rhythm City’s parent company, said the casino is the company’s third land-based casino to open in Iowa. “It seems it gets better every time,” he stated. Kehl noted his parents, Ruth and the late Robert Kehl, received the state’s first gaming license when Iowa legalized riverboat gambling 25 years ago. In fact, Kehl said, two of Rhythm City’s new restaurant, Robert’s Buffet and Ruthie’s, pay tribute to them. The company also developed Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, the state’s first land-based casino, and owns Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort in Larchwood.
General Manager Mo Hyder commented, “It`s an incredible and awesome feeling. It`s a project that`s been in the works for a long time now. We were land-locked but this gives us a lot of flexibility. The city of Davenport benefits, Scott County benefits, the regional development authority benefits and more importantly the state of Iowa benefits from this expansion. We have created an experience that is going to position us as the market leader,” he said.
Frank Clark, president of the Regional Development Authority, the casino’s nonprofit partner which holds the gaming license, said, “The RDA has distributed approximately $60 million in this community. That’s a significant infusion in our economy and in the nonprofits. We want you to be even more profitable so we can give away more.” RDA board member Marie Christian added, “I like it when we get to give money to the community. We don’t feel guilty gambling because we’re giving money to the nonprofits.” Christian noted the casino “is elegant. When you think of Iowa, you don’t think of elegant.”
Davenport Mayor Frank Klipsch agreed. “Really , this is just gorgeous,” he said, noting, “What the Kehl have done is open up another area that is going to blossom. It`s really an anchor to bring in much more development.”
In Bettendorf, the new Isle of Capri Casino and Hotel recently opened between the property’s two existing hotels. “Putting it in the heart of the property between the two hotels with the restaurants right next door is so convenient,” said Vice President and General Manager Nancy Ballenger.
The property offers a gaming floor will offer 1,000 slot machines and 19 gaming tables, plus three restaurants and a bar. Ballenger noted since smoking is allowed in Iowa casinos, a special system will refresh the air three times per hour. “The riverboats were never built for that. The industry really didn`t know what we were kind of getting into at that point and so it kind of evolved and you`re going to see that when you come into the facility now,” Ballenger said.
She added, “The riverboat experience has been great. It`s been a wonderful era, but you go up and down stairs, you go up and down elevators and customers really want to be in an open space right now.”
