I missed this development in the St. Louis area, but longtime St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan writes about the possibility of a casino being built at the foot of the west side of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, which once carried Route 66 and now is used as a pedestrian and bicycle trail.
Missouri law sets the casino limit at 13. After Pinnacle Entertainment surrendered its license for the President Casino this summer, four entities applied for the license. One proposed site is in the Kansas City area. One is in Cape Girardeau. One is in north St. Louis County near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The fourth is at the edge of the city limits, at the Chain of Rocks Bridge. […]
The casino developer has promised $150,000 in annual payments to the city’s Ward 2 — the ward in which the bridge is located — to fund local improvements and community projects, and has also promised to provide upgrades to the pedestrian and bike trails along the river and to the bridge itself.
In fact, the Great Rivers Greenway District, which has developed the riverfront trail, has announced its support of the casino project.
So who opposes it?
The people who live nearby. […] They brought up a lot of points against a casino. The city’s water plant is right there. Maybe there’d be some kind of runoff. Riverview Drive is two lanes — crowded and dangerous already.
But mostly, I thought, this is about people who have found a really nice spot. The homes aren’t fancy, but it’s almost like country living in the city. A casino would change all of that.
Would a casino help the city? Sure. But would it destroy the ambience of the area? Absolutely.
McClellan opposes a casino in St. Louis, and hopes that Cape Girardeau wins it instead.
Looking over a story in the Post-Dispatch’s archives, the casino proposal would make improvements to the bridge and add trailheads on both sides, or give Great Rivers Greenway nearly 12 acres of riverfront land that it has long wanted and make the bridge improvements itself. And, yes, the proposal also would mean 24-hour security on the bridge.
I’ve hold a lot of mixed feelings about this. I’m certainly no fan of casinos in general.
But because of a rash of car burglaries, the Missouri side of the bridge has been closed to visitors for several years — much to the chagrin of many Route 66ers. If a casino moves nearby, it undoubtedly would improve security greatly at the bridge, and people could visit it again. It’s easy to see why Great Rivers Greenway is thinking this is a deal that’s too good to pass up.
However, the casino would be located DIRECTLY at the foot of the Chain of Rocks Bridge. Don’t you think that would drastically change the character of the area? I may be wrong, but many of the people who use the trail and bridge are not the same folks that would appreciate a casino. Why not put in a restaurant? A bike rental shop? Both? Why does the answer to funding needs always seem to revert to casinos?
It is my understanding that Great Rivers Greenway has an agreement with the developers that in exchange for their support they would receive acreage along the river’s edge, but if the deal falls through Great Rivers would be able to purchase the entire development area. Win-win, so of course they support it.
Surely there are ways to preserve this treasured area other than burying it under acres of concrete and asphalt.
This makes me so mad! I live on the Illinois side and i know a lot of people will not want this either! Its one of the only natural areas still left around here to visit and get back to nature…They need to take their casino somewhere else!!!!!