St. Louis County Opens River City Casino Boulevard to New Jobs
St. Louis Front Page
Novevmber 10, 2009
by Betty Moore
With one single stroke, St. Louis County and Missouri dignitaries cut the yellow ribbon at a Grand Opening ceremony, Tuesday morning, November 10, to officially open the River City Casino Boulevard.
It was a milestone marking years of planning and discussion, requiring two acts of congress, nearly $450 million, and the cooperation of more than 20 entities including the U.S. Air Force, MoDOT, Corps of Engineers, Union Pacific Railroad, MSD, HUD, SEMA and 13 local utilities, to complete the mile-and-a half road connecting I-55 to the Mississippi River and the new River City Casino scheduled to open in Spring 2010.
The long, complex process to develop the area along the River De Peres, devastated by the flood of 1993, also required a great deal of tenacity in obtaining permits by datelines set by the Missouri Gaming Commission and detailed coordination to remove and properly dispose of 16,000 tons of contaminated material to meet MoDNR standards.
The overwhelming odds against building the road, which began in 2007, made the successful completion even more poignant. According to St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, "This project is so important because in 1995, this was 80 acres of contaminated, unusable land that didn't produce any productivity and no revenue and just look at it today. There were people who were saying it wasn't going to happen. Well, it did happen and this is just the first part of the project to open the road for more economic development for the Lemay and South St. Louis County areas."
Dooley estimated that approximately 1,000 - 1,500 permanent jobs are the result of the development. "We invested nearly $357 million dollars in the area. This road will open up other opportunities for the area including retail and other activities for economic development."
"This is a road to somewhere," Dooley noted proudly. "This is a road to the new casino in Lemay. This also a road to good paying jobs with benefits that we need right now in this economy."
When asked if any stimulus funds were used for the project, Dooley quickly responded that no TIFs or TARP money was used. He noted that it was Pinnacle Entertainment stimulus money with more than $23.8 million to develop the new River City Casino Boulevard. "We also used Brownfield's money to clean up the abandoned and contaminated industrial sites."
Dooley envisioned a big return on the County's investment with funds going to support the schools, the local fire departments, into building a new community center for Lemay and especially into new jobs at the River City Casino.
"Building this road is another perfect example of us working together with many partners including the City of St. Louis and U.S. Congressman Russ Carnahan to get the job done."
The significance of the new infrastructure was highlighted by Carnahan as he commented on the potential of creating new jobs. "This is a tough economy, but we've had some good economic indicators that we are growing our way out of this economic hole that we've been in," stated Congressman Russ Carnahan.
"We know from past recessions, usually the jobs lag by a year to a year and a half behind the economic numbers beginning to turn around," added Carnahan. "So I think it's our job to really focus on how we can shorten that lag time, saving and creating jobs. This is a great example of Federal, State and local community coming together to build this important piece of infrastructure."
The regional economic development strategy is to create 4,000 new jobs for the region, including 3,000 for the construction and staffing of the new casino. "We know from studies, that the ripple impact of the investment into new bridges and roads is one of the smartest and best uses of public money to create jobs and promote private economic activity," stated Carnahan. "This is absolutely a model project of how you can do that here in Lemay and South St. Louis County."
