Place your bets: River City Casino opens for sneak peek before official Thursday opening
Suburban Journals
March 2, 2010
by Jim Merkel
As doors opened Monday to the floor of the River City Casino, a mass of visitors moved toward 55 tables and more than 2,000 slot machines.
"Isn't it gorgeous? Absolutely gorgeous. I go to all the casinos," Janet Kraus, 67, a retired school teacher living in Oakville, said.
"It's great. It's fabulous," Kraus' husband, David Kraus, 69, said. "Hopefully, it will provide some jobs for folks down here."
David Kraus, a retired private counselor, grew up in Lemay and obtained VIP tickets from friends.
Officially, Pinnacle Entertainment opens the River City Casino to the public at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Monday's events offered a chance for the media, political and civic leaders and those with a little pull to have a firsthand look at the glitz.
In the grand court outside the casino floor, women dressed in tight-fitting sparkling gold head-to-ankle outfits dangled by their feet from ropes attached to the ceiling. They reached low enough so they could serve drinks to anyone walking by.
Other women dressed in long red dresses and red hats towered eight and a half feet over the visitors, adding to the glitz.
Workers rushed through the casino and grand court with trays of drinks, burgers and other food.
Politicians lined up to praise the $380 million casino for what it will do for South County.
The casino provided about 600 union jobs during construction and will provide 1,200 permanent jobs, a statement by Pinnacle said.
A second phase will include athletic fields, recreational facilities and a community center. Pinnacle is to contribute $5.1 million for those facilities.
County officials expect the casino to spur additional development on neighboring sites.
Community and county leaders had sought to find another use for the 80-acre former National Lead property since the company closed its two pigment plants there in 1978 and 1981.
"This project I think is a jackpot for jobs," U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-3rd District, said.
The casino is a game changer for the Lemay area, said County Councilman Steve Stenger, D-6th District, who represents that area.
Inside the casino, Tom Parlow, 56, of Fenton, was at a penny slot machine.
"I think it's nice. I remember a lot of people who used to work at National Lead," Parlow said.
