Photograph courtesy of River City Casino
The arrival of the $380 million River City Casino in March 2010 provoked protest from antigambling residents, but it also created a jackpot of revenue for struggling Lemay.
Under its agreement with St. Louis County, casino owner Pinnacle Entertainment agreed that $4 million per year would flow into the county’s Port Authority Community Investment Fund for local improvement projects. In September, the fund named its first round of projects, including $500,000 for the Missouri Civil War Museum, $415,000 for the Lemay Housing Partnership to repair and renovate homes, and $326,408 to the Lemay Baseball Association to repave Heine Meine Field’s parking lot and replace its bleachers and fencing. And that’s just the start.
Pinnacle funds may also be used to build new baseball fields, raze the flood-damaged Lemay Bank, and help build a community center.
“We feel that it has fulfilled all the expectations that we had for the project,” says Denny Coleman, president and CEO of the St. Louis County Economic Development Council. “It helped us redevelop a contaminated and almost worthless site that was in the flood plain.
“We’re not trying to change the nature of the community; we are just trying to enhance the quality of life of the community as it exists,” he adds. “If we can do that by making adjustments to the infrastructure, create some new businesses, and provide some low-interest loans for people to fix up their houses, that’s a good thing.”
