Altoona: Prairie Meadows Casino Expansion

[butters]

For what it is worth - I don't think Prairie Meadows is an awful looking building - I don't think it is a great monument to design either. But ugliest casino in Iowa? I'm almost certain the Diamond Jo at the IA/MN border takes that distinction.

[Ingersoll1978]

Personally, I don't think Prairie Meadows is ugly. It's fine for what it is.

[QuadCityImages]

Despite the heavy advertising claims by Riverside and Jumer's, I saw nothing "Vegas-style" about either, and I've been to Vegas twice. If Prairie Meadows is the Vet's of casinos, Riverside and Jumer's are the Target's of casinos. Sure, its a decent place, but they're just cookie cutter versions of the same building. When you're in a Vegas casino, you know which casino you're in. If you placed someone in Jumer's or Riverside they wouldn't be able to tell which they were at.

[DMRyan]

Prairie Meadows isn't horrible, it just isn't on par with the facility a metro of this size should have. Particularly when you look at the casinos that have been newly constructed or seriously renovated in other places all over the state, let alone in neighboring markets in other states.

Something on the caliber of the Isle in Waterloo would suit the DSM metro fine. I still wouldn't mind seeing an architecturally attractive casino built on the SE riverfront downtown now that MLK Parkway is being extended to open the area up. Something that has a respectable hotel, a restaurant or two and maybe even a new nightclub. As DSM continues to grow, I would imagine the pressure to allow some casino competition in this market will increase and the City of Des Moines may be able to wrangle a deal where a new facility would give a little more to the "community foundation" that Prairie Meadows gives.

Hopefully this proposed hotel is fitting for the 2nd largest gambling market in Iowa, one that is probably below the rest of the metros in the state in casinos per capita, minus Cedar Rapids.

[Mastermind]

I will go out on a limb and say Prairie Meadows is actually in the upper tier of Iowa Casinos. CasinOmaha may be the biggest dump.

[DMRyan]

How about shooting for something higher than the upper tier of Iowa casinos? Maybe shoot higher like new or renovated casinos in Detroit, St. Louis, Kansas City or even Waterloo or Council Bluffs?

[Mastermind]

I completely agree, i think this hotel proposal is a joke and an embarrassment. Just saying its not the worst, and its not really close to the worst.

[hawk61401]

Praire Meadows reminds me of the Iowa Events Center. So much missed opportunity and done half-a**. Des Moines doesn't know how to thing BIG. It can't shake off the inferiority complex.

Think of what Des Moines could have if the Iowa Events Center had built a better planned convention center topped off with a convention hotel. And .... Praire Meadows was a big glitzy casino continually drawing big headliners. Let's say you're watching Jay Leno and his guest star annnounces that he will be at Praire Meadows tomorrow night. Half the country says, "Des Moines?" Damn right, baby. We are truly The Surprising Place.

The convention, tourist industry and gambling industry would be pulling them in from Kansas City, Omaha, and points east.

[DMRyan]

Considering Prairie Meadows was built on a shoestring and a prayer, (almost not even happening) and with such an emphasis on being a horse racing track first and foremost, it was hard to foresee back in the early 1990's that DSM would grow the way it did and be more suited for a better facility. Prairie Meadows was/is fine for when it's built, but we've come a long way baby. It's time for a 2nd metro casino, one that doesn't have the played out Iowa folksy theme throughout.

[Ingersoll1978]

Personally, I don't think we need any more casinos. The situation we have now is optimal for Greater Des Moines, considering it is paying for the balance of the Iowa Events Center (and numerous previous betterment projects). I also wouldn't find a "fake" New York or Paris to be a highly attractive addition to the metro. As for its architecture, I think it's pretty nice, especially considering it's 20 years old. Also, a hotel/parking garage addition has an opportunity to dramatically change the look of the facility, especially from the interstate (as the hotel is going to be on the north side of the complex).

Also, I don't think it's fair to be passing judgment yet on the proposed hotel. Remember, it costs a heck of a lot less to build new than to completely restore a downtown landmark hotel. $20-$25 million will NOT be a Super 8 or Days Inn. For comparison purposes, the 117-room Courtyard in Ankeny cost $9 million.

[Mototail]

Here many times progress can be slow just because of the political climate. I do think that as the energy revolution intensifies that new ideas and ways will fold itself into the Iowan mental make-up.
If the something tasteful is done in downtown Des Moines as far as a casino then it would progress if the market/consumers demand it. I believe they tried something along that lines of a riverboat style casino, but Principal Financial with its political pull vetoed the idea because it would "cloud" the image of what they had planned in the Principal Riverwalk.

[QuadCityImages]

Iowa already has more casinos than it needs. Adding more just takes away from the revenue of the existing ones, which was proven by Riverside.

[hawk61401]

I've thrown a couple of barbs at Praire Meadows. Let me throw some kudos too. I think they have done amazingly well considering the unfair competition they have from the Meskwaki Casino 70 miles away. Meskwaki has advantages that Praire Meadows will of course never have. I wonder how much revenue and taxes are lost from the Des Moines area to Meskwaki.

see the latest from Meskwaki at: http://election-2008.tmcnet.com/news/2009/03/02/4024196.htm

Meskwaki payment cut sparks resentment toward leaders

Mar 02, 2009 (The Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Shrinking revenue at the Meskwaki Bingo-Casino-Hotel near Tama is causing growing resentment among tribal members at their leaders' handling of financial matters.

In two referendums Friday, tribe members repudiated the Tribal Council's reduction last year of their monthly casino revenue payments, and six tribe members filed a lawsuit last week seeking an injunction to halt the tribe's purchase of the Pinnacle Bank of Marshalltown.

Members voted 189-101 to reject the Tribal Council's reduction of per capita payments from $1,800 to $1,000 in June, and they voted 221-69 to reject the council's further lowering of the payments to $500 per month in October.

Former Tribal Council member Ray Young Bear -- one of six tribe members who have sought an injunction to halt the bank purchase -- said Sunday he's pleased with the vote on per capita payments but doubts the Tribal Council will act upon it.

The referendums, he said, were prompted by what he called a lack of transparency in tribal leaders' financial dealings.

"People are suffering. Their cars and appliances are being repossessed, and families are visiting food banks. But tribal leaders don't want to show us the books," he said.

Meskwaki officials, in a statement released Friday, said their process in purchasing Pinnacle Bank "was entirely transparent to tribal members," and they challenged Young Bear's assertion that tribal members have "been left in the dark" about tribal finances.

Young Bear and five other Meskwaki -- Glenn Roberts, Vincent Duncan, Dean Whitebreast, Michael Wanatee and Stella Young Bear -- filed suit in Marshall County District Court, seeking more time to circulate petitions calling for a tribal referendum on the purchase of the bank.

The tribe has held several community meetings about its finances, including the bank purchase, Meskwaki officials said. At the most recent of those meetings, two weeks ago, a presentation covered the reasons for purchasing the bank, the price and how it would be paid for, the officials said.

"All of the Tribal Council's actions about the bank project have been published in their meeting minutes since November 2006," said the statement, issued on behalf of the tribe by its attorney general's office.

The petition requesting a referendum on the purchase "failed to meet the requirements of the tribe's election code" and was not rejected by the Tribal Council, according to the statement.

As for the per capita payments, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act requires tribes engaged in gaming to formulate a Revenue Allocation Plan before distributing per capita payments to individual tribal members, the statement said.

According to the gaming act, the funding of tribal government programs and services and the promotion of economic development takes precedence over per capita distributions.

Tribal leaders hope members "will inform themselves of these federal requirements in order to effectively resolve these internal matters," the statement said.

-- Contact the writer: (319)-9343172 or orlan.love@gazcomm.com To see more of The Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazetteonline.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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[Mastermind]

lso, I don't think it's fair to be passing judgment yet on the proposed hotel. Remember, it costs a heck of a lot less to build new than to completely restore a downtown landmark hotel. $20-$25 million will NOT be a Super 8 or Days Inn. For comparison purposes, the 117-room Courtyard in Ankeny cost $9 million.

Good point Ingersoll. Maybe i shouldnt react like DMR poster

[dogbo]

Personally, I don't think Prairie Meadows is ugly. It's fine for what it is.

ditto.

[hawk61401]

A great way to keep up with the latest entertainment coming to Praire Meadows is Pollstar. http://www.pollstar.com/resultsVenue.aspx?ID=65377&SortBy=Date

Clint Black will be at Praire Meadows on May 29. Glenn Campbell will be there in two days on the 6th.

Back when Glen Campbell was a hunk! ..

[hawk61401]

Look out Iowa. Illinois ups the ante ..

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Casinos-Want-to-Give-You-Free-Booze.html

[PlatonKarataev]

For $20-$25 million at 200 rooms, you're spending $100-$125k per room. The median cost of a room in a budget/economy hotel is $57,400 with the average being $71,000. The $20-$25 million price tag for 200 rooms checks in line with midscale hotels-- w/o food/beverage you're looking at a median cost of $93,600, with food/beverage you're looking at a median cost of $112,000.

[DMRyan]

Here are two new casinos that opened up in downtown Detroit. I grant that there's an astronomical difference between a metro 5.5 million and a metro of 700,000 (if Ames is lumped in) in scale of what can be built, but something a little more modern could stand to be built here I still maintain. I'm not just talking about the exterior, these are full service ultra modern Midwestern casinos that have top notch restaurants and nightclubs, entertainment and banquet facilities on top of the hotel and the casino. I'm not asking for a entertainment district wrapped into a massive complex detracting from the rest of downtown, just something a little more classy than what we have, and yes I would want it downtown.

Greektown Casino
http://www.greektowncasino.com/


Motor City Casino
http://www.motorcitycasino.com/


Or in St. Louis,

Lumiere Place
http://www.lumiereplace.com/

[hawk61401]

Agree with Ryan. We need something more classy. Get over the folksy State Fair look.

Another city that might be building a downtown casino is Indianapolis. The mayor and the governor aren't for it at least for right now. But many are saying it's the perfect time before the Super Bowl in 2012.

[Mototail]

I agree that downtown Indy could use something. I've been through there many times and visited it for the Moto GP race this past September. Many areas need new construction away from the industrial.

We can't be picky when someone has an idea to prop up the environment of our downtown. The idea is not bad, just have to be more cohesive and flexible for the way it's aesthetics come out. While we waste our time deciding the life or death of a city for something more perfect the business moves elsewhere.

We are at the end of the industrial age and new things must come in behind it.

[JMsioux]

I will go out on a limb and say Prairie Meadows is actually in the upper tier of Iowa Casinos. CasinOmaha may be the biggest dump.

Definately a toss-up between CasinOmaha and Winnavegas for the biggest dump. I really don't like to gamble but I can certainly say that these two are at the bottom of the barrel and not just for Iowa-based casinos.

[Mastermind]

I havent been to Winnevegas in a while, but didnt they get a major overhaul recently?

[JMsioux]

I havent been to Winnevegas in a while, but didnt they get a major overhaul recently?

It's still a hole as far as I'm concerned. Lipstick on a pig ring a bell?

[DMRyan]

Sounds like Prairie Meadows is finally getting serious about building a hotel onto their complex with a new 180 room Hilton Garden Inn.

Should fit right in with the cornball faux victorian horsebarn architecture already found there. I was hoping for something a little more eye catching than the Comfort Inn in the Amana Colonies look, but understand this rendering is for conceptual purposes only.
Rendering from KCCI.com



http://www.kcci.com/money/22733025/detail.html#

[BenRoethig]

From the look of this, its going to go in front of the casino addition Are there any plans for a parking ramp as well?

[butters]

There are plans for a parking ramp at Prairie Meadows - I do not know what timeline they have in mind for constructing it. The ramp is badly needed right now, particularily on nights when they have live racing. The addition of the hotel will only exacerbate the need.

[dogbo]

Hotel expansion is long overdue. Hopefully parking ramp is close behind.

[Ingersoll1978]

Hopefully the hotel will be similar to the architecture of Prairie Meadows. Some of these casino hotels look very cheap (as in the quality of exterior materials). It looks appropriate.

[hawk61401]

Hopefully the hotel will be similar to the architecture of Prairie Meadows. Some of these casino hotels look very cheap (as in the quality of exterior materials). It looks appropriate.

Exactly. It can look like a cheap add-on or look like it belongs with the original structure. I never heard of The Kinseth Hospitality Group, the company that's building the hotel or knew they were located in Iowa (N. Liberty)
http://www.kinseth.com/about/index.cfm

Looks like they have had plenty of expertise with the latest project being the Hilton Garden Inn at the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs. http://hiltongardeninn.hilton.com/en/gi ... cn=OMAEAGI