NEWS

Rockaway Beach mayor: Casino proposal 'looks very unlikely now'

Thomas Gounley
TGOUNLEY@NEWS-LEADER.COM

The latest effort to bring a casino to the struggling southwest Missouri resort town of Rockaway Beach is "not looking good," the city's mayor said Tuesday, just weeks after speaking optimistically of the proposal's chances.

Rockaway Beach has seen fewer and fewer tourists over the years, business owners say.

"I would say there's an 80 to 90 percent chance that it's dead," Don Smith told the News-Leader. "It looks very unlikely now."

Smith said the backers of the proposal — whom he has declined to name — have concluded that, even if voters voted to loosen the state's current restrictions on casinos, the effort would have been sued by Missouri's existing casinos, which would be wary of more competition.

"They would have been able to tie that up in the courts for years," he said.

Any casino proposal in Rockaway Beach, a town of 850 about 10 miles northeast of Branson, faces natural obstacles — and a history of coming up short.

The state constitution currently only allows gambling on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, and the number of casino licenses issued by the state is capped at 13 — all of which are currently in use. In September, Smith told the News-Leader he believed one ballot question, which would have to be approved by a majority of statewide voters, could address both obstacles.

Rockaway Beach has been open about its interest in housing a casino since the new millennium and has entertained multiple proposals. One effort made it all the way to the ballot. In August 2004, 55.9 percent of Missouri voters rejected the necessary amendment.

On Tuesday, Smith — who attributes the 2004 loss to an amendment banning gay marriage that was also on the ballot — said the backers this round were confident they could win the necessary voter support. But he said they'd come to the conclusion that they would then face a legal fight from the state's other casinos.

"That's where your fight starts," Smith said.

Smith described the proposal's backers as a group of investors, one of whom is a billionaire. He said they do not have experience in the casino industry but own several businesses in the Branson area.

The investors are now looking at trying to bring a non-casino attraction to Rockaway Beach, Smith said — one that would need less outside approval.

Smith said he has been exploring the feasibility of a casino in Rockaway Beach on behalf of the investors, but that he is not being paid. He previously said he was in favor of the casino because it would bring jobs to a town that is "tired of being the armpit of poverty."

The scuttling of Rockaway Beach's casino proposal comes less than a month after the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down an unrelated proposal to bring a casino to nearby Boone County, Arkansas.

Both the Rockaway Beach and Boone County proposals were being monitored in nearby Branson. City and business leaders there have voiced concerns that gambling could detract from what they see as the tourist destination's family-friendly brand.