Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 2, 1991 TAG: 9104020107
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BETTENDORF, IOWA LENGTH: Medium
Three boats with paddle wheels rolled on the river, one of them in a race to make home port for its inaugural gambling voyage.
"It's on the grand scale of an MGM musical," said Howard Keel, star of the 1951 movie "Showboat."
As the $10 million Diamond Lady left its Bettendorf home port decked out in red, white and blue bunting, fireworks exploded from a barge in the Mississippi and trucks crossing the Interstate 74 bridge tooted their horns. The boat took about 500 passengers on its first cruise.
Gambling was part of the entertainment on the vessels that carried goods and passengers on the Mississippi during the heyday of riverboats in the last century. The railroads that took away the riverboats' business also siphoned off the gambling trade.
Iowa law limits gamblers to $5 per play and a $200 loss per cruise. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates each passenger will spend $50, parlaying into millions of dollars of additional revenue for the state.
The boats are required to stay on the Iowa side of Mississippi, which runs for 312.6 miles along the eastern edge of the state.
The President, with a grand casino almost as long as a football field, is a 67-year-old, 297-foot-long excursion boat renovated for $10 million. The Diamond Lady boasts hinged ornamental smoke stacks that can be folded down to go under low bridges on the river.
The Casino Belle has a three-story front lobby with a grand staircase, massive crystal chandelier and original paintings from the famed steamer Robert E. Lee.
by CNB