SIOUX CITY, IA -
The destiny of the Argosy Casino is still
undecided. The argument between Missouri River Historical Development
and Penn National has been going on for months now, and with just one
month left on the contract, things are heating up.
Both Penn and MRHD went before Iowa Racing
and Gaming Commission this morning to tell the state they haven't been
able to reach a deal. MRHD wants 5 percent of the Argosy's profits,
versus the 3 percent they are getting now, but Penn won't up the ante.
At Thursday's meeting state regulators made
two decisions - to extend the Argosy's gaming license for another year,
and to start accepting proposals for a land based casino from any
interested organization. Both groups want to build a casino in downtown
Sioux City, but can't agree on how much money MRHD should get.
This opens the door for Penn and MRHD to begin looking for new partners.
"We need to decide what we'll do after
today's meeting... Personally I will recommend to the board, and hat
they do with it they will, that we go out for an RFP request for a
proposal and see what's out there and what our options are," said MRHD
President Mark Monson.
Penn is already working with another
non-profit called Friends of Woodbury County. We looked up their state
records, it was founded last month by a lawyer in Des Moines.
The current contract to run the Argosy
expires in July. If MRHD and Penn can't come up with a deal by then,
the casino could pull anchor and more than 300 people could lose their
jobs.
Stephanie Kotalik of Sioux City says with the economy, it would be terrible if that many people were out of work.
"It doesn't matter if you agree with going to
a casino or not, it's just somebody's job is on the line, it's their
way of, it's there income, it's the only way they can survive," she
said.
Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott says that won't happen.
"We'll have a fall back plan, we're not gonna
allow that to happen for very long, we'll make sure that problem is
solved quickly," he said.
That's why the City plans to work closely with MRHD.
Scott says the non-profit Friends of Woodbury
County have yet to talk with the City. He says right now they aren't
interested until this group comes forward and gives a good argument
about their organization.
Now that Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission
opened up the bidding process for a land-based casino to any interested
organization, these teammates could be betting against each other to
make it to the main table downtown.
