Penn National wants to build us$ 100 million casino in Iowa

Right now, Penn National says it would need a 10 acre site in downtown Sioux City to make a casino work, but the future of any new facility could depend on an ongoing court battle. "What we're really hoping to do here is invest up to us$ 100 million in what will become a regional destination," says Eric Schippers, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Government Relations for Penn National Gaming.

With that us$ 100 million dollar investment, Penn National Gaming hopes to replace Sioux City's Argosy Casino. The plan calls for a Hollywood brand casino, a lot like one which opens up in Kansas City Friday, but the biggest change: that new casino could be downtown. "We really want to be a draw to bring other people into the community that wouldn't necessarily be coming downtown," says Schippers.

Sioux City's mayor says that move to dry land would be for the best for business. "It'll get the traffic downtown rather than on the edge and we hope that will have a positive impact," says Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott. But the future of the Argosy could be decided in court.

The Missouri River Historical Development group owns the county's gaming license; it's suing Penn National, claiming the company's keeping MRHD from shopping around for new casino ownership.

"And if we can't resolve that, then we need to look for another operator," says Mark Monson, President of Missouri River Historical Development.

Whatever happens in court, members of MRHD do support a move to downtown. "It's a very fortunate time to do that," says Monson. "MRHD has one shot at this, we just are in the process of finishing our twentieth year and our contract is up, so the next one will run for 20 to 30 years."

None of these plans are set in stone, in fact, it was just Monday that Penn National said it supports a downtown casino.