Mississippi River downtown to a landlocked site on the west edge of Clinton.

Mississippi Belle II riverboat casino owners plan to expand local gambling operations on a 65- to 70-acre lot west of Culver’s restaurant on U.S. 30, facility manager Neil Narter said Thursday.
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The $20 million casino, hotel and restaurant project will bring a big boost the city’s growing west-end business district. Architects still are working on site designs for the facility, which received preliminary approval from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission in October before the location was made public. Earth moving at the site is expected to begin in a couple of months, Narter said.
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“It’s taken far longer than anticipated,” he said.
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State gaming commissioner Diane Hamilton said initial plans for Clinton’s new casino project featured building the facility with a manmade body of water running beneath it.
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Changes in the law
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That falls in line with a recent change in state law that allows casinos to move off navigable waters, as long as the floor of the casino is over water and “as nearly as practicable, recreates boats or moored barges that resemble Iowa’s riverboat history.”
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“When the manager was explaining it to us and showed us a picture, it seemed kind of cool,” Hamilton said.
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The initial design concept also described the project’s location as being 1,000 feet away from the high-water mark of the Mississippi River.
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Clinton casino president Ken Bonnet could not be reached by the QUAD-CITY TIMES for comment, but has said that he hoped to break ground on the project in the spring.
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Casino management has not filed for city or state permits to begin construction at the site, and it could not be determined whether the property purchase has been finalized.
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The community has been swirling with speculation about the casino’s future location. Many thought the operation might move to the city’s north end, where the casino owns riverfront property along Main Avenue. Construction crews moved in this summer to clear the former McEleney Motors car dealership site of buildings and parking lots. That business moved to a new location at U.S. 30 and 67.
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Staff at the state’s gaming board office said Clinton’s west-end location was known to commissioners when they gave preliminary approval to the casino project. However, commissioners have not decided yet how many land-based casino licenses they will hand out, and whether those will include Clinton’s proposal. 카지노사이트