Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell speaks with reporters following the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission decision to approve a casino project application in Cedar Rapids. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission voted to approve the application for Cedar Crossing Casino and Entertainment Center on Thursday morning at its February meeting in Altoona.
Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell celebrated the decision, which she said has been a “David versus Goliath” situation since the beginning, and “by God the story ended the same way — let’s hear it for David.”
“Honestly, a cataclysmic day for Cedar Rapids and Linn County,” O’Donnell said to reporters. “Linn County, Cedar Rapids, deserves this.”
Project planners intend to break ground on the project Friday. Jonathan Swain, a board member with Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, the developing group behind the project, said he was “shovel ready” for the project he has spent 12 years planning.
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“It’ll probably take us 18 to 22 months to build the project… so we’re going to move very quickly,” Swain said to reporters.
The commission voted 4-1 to approve the project, with commissioner Alan Ostergren dissenting.
“They took all of the worry that this would be a political decision, out of it,” O’Donnell said. “(The commission) responded to facts and not fear and I am truly grateful for the outcome.”
Earlier in the week, the Iowa Senate stalled a casino moratorium bill that, while not aimed directly at the Cedar Rapids project, would have blocked its approval.
The bill, which would have set a five year moratorium on all new casinos, passed the house quickly, but Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa, said Senate Republicans would leave those decisions to the gaming and racing commission.
Rozenboom told reporters he does not have plans to take the bill up later in the session, citing a lack of support from Senate Republicans and in the interest of getting to other pieces of legislation.
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