the president riverboat casino davenport iowa

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The Steamer President

Taken 80 years ago, this week’s image for the Old Boat Column features the sidewheeler President.

Originally built in 1924 for the Louisville & Cincinnati Packet Company as the Cincinnati, the steel hull, measuring 291 feet long by 84 feet wide, was constructed at Midland, Pa., with completion at Cincinnati. An identical hull was built concurrently as a sister vessel to be named Louisville. However, due to a change in plans, the hull was sold to the Coney Island Company at Cincinnati to become the second excursion steamer Island Queen.

The problems caused by the Great Depression in the early 1930s brought about the sale of the Cincinnati to Streckfus Steamers in 1933. The new owners rebuilt the vessel with a new superstructure for use as an excursion boat. The work was carried out at the St. Louis levee while curious citizens watched as the big steamboat took shape. In its February 4, 1933 issue, The Waterways Journal carried an article that proclaimed: “The Democrats will soon present us with a new president (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) and, not to be outdone, Streckfus Steamers will soon do the very same thing.”

The six oil-burning boilers which provided steam to the compound non-condensing Barnes engines (9-foot stroke) were relocated to the hull. Touted by the media as a “Super Steamer,” the President made its trial trip on July 1, 1934, with more than 1,000 dignitaries aboard, including St. Louis Mayor Bernard Dickmann and representatives from The Waterways Journal. The riverboat was in command of Capt. John Streckfus, with Capt. Jim Brasher as pilot. Capt. Cornelius McGee was mate and Frank Moore presided as chief engineer.

Making its debut to the public on July 4, the President replaced the Streckfus sidewheelers J.S. and Saint Paul (later renamed Senator) which began tramping the Ohio River.

The five-deck President was certified to carry 3,100 passengers and was notable for its “special refinements,” such as rainbow shadow-box lighting effects in the main salon and the ladies’ powder rooms, which were reportedly the epitome of elegance and modernity. With a nod to the past, a steam calliope (formerly used on the sidewheeler J.S.) was installed just forward of the port smokestack.

During the winter months, the President was taken to New Orleans; in 1944, the decks were enclosed with glass. When Streckfus brought out the steamer Admiral at St. Louis in 1940, the President remained at New Orleans with occasional journeys to the Upper Mississippi River.

In 1978, the steam propulsion of the President was replaced by three Murray-Tregurtha diesel units rated at 2,000 hp. The boat was sold in early 1981 to the New Orleans Steamboat Company, operators of the sternwheel excursion steamboat Natchez (designed by Capt. Alan Bates) which began operating in 1975.

The President was sold a decade later to St. Louis River Cruises Inc., and returned to its original home port to run public and charter cruises. The riverboat made a special foray to the Ohio River in 1988 to participate in the first Tall Stacks festival at Cincinnati.

Following a career as a casino at Davenport, Iowa, the President was retired in 1999. During the winter of 2009, the vessel was disassembled and 300+ large pieces moved to a site at St. Elmo, Ill. Plans to rebuild the riverboat into a land-based tourist attraction and shopping center never came to fruition.

Caption for photo: The steamer President, seen from the Eads Bridge at St. Louis, in 1939. (Keith Norrington collection)

Editor’s note: For questions or suggestions regarding the Old Boat Column, Keith Norrington may be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or by mail through the Howard Steamboat Museum at P.O. Box 606, Jeffersonville, Ind. 47131-0606.

• Cornelius McGee
• Frank Moore
• Jim Brasher
• John Streckfus
• sidewheeler
• Streckfus Steamers

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President (1924 steamboat)

President is a steamboat that currently lies dismantled in Effingham, Illinois , United States. [3] Originally named Cincinnati , it was built in 1924 [4] and is the only remaining "Western Rivers" style sidewheel river excursion steamboat in the United States. [2] She was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989, although these designations were revoked in 2011. [2] Her home ports have been Cincinnati, Ohio ; New Orleans, Louisiana ; Vicksburg, Mississippi ; St. Louis, Missouri ; and Davenport, Iowa .

Current status

External links.

Built in 1924 by the Midland Barge Company for John W. Hubbard of Pittsburgh and then known as Cincinnati , she was originally planned as an overnight packet boat which carried passengers and freight from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Louisville, Kentucky during the summer. Once the hull was in Cincinnati, the owners expanded the passenger capacity by building two cabin-decks. The operators, Louisville & Cincinnati Packet Company, ran excursions, making its maiden voyage downstream to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in 1924. They operated Mardi Gras excursions for consecutive years through 1930. Sometimes Cincinnati cruised upriver into the Pittsburgh area. [5]

Streckfus Steamers acquired the Cincinnati in 1933 and stripped it down to its hull. They refitted the hull with 24 watertight compartments, then built five decks encased within an all-steel superstructure. The company moved her to her new home port of St. Louis, Missouri, where she served the upscale excursion market. [6] Renamed as President , the newly renovated 285-foot sidewheeler could accommodate 3,000 passengers and the ballroom could host 1,000 dancers. The cabins were built with an open design and the lido was built without a Texas deck . [7]

Newly converted and newly named, she opened for business in 1934. Streckfus advertised her as "the New 5 Deck Luxury Super Steamer, Biggest and Finest On The Upper Mississippi". She continued tramping (having no fixed schedule or published ports of call) until 1941. (In 1940, she was displaced from her position as flagship of the Streckfus line by the S.S. Admiral .) [ citation needed ]

In 1941, she switched her home port to New Orleans. Because fuel oil was restricted and many of the young crewmen joined the armed forces with the nation's entry into World War II , tramping was discontinued, and the cruises stayed close to home. After the war, President remained in New Orleans for many years as a popular music venue, featuring concerts by national acts such as U2 , Cyndi Lauper , Men at Work , The Little River Band , and The Producers , and performances by New Orleans artists like Dr. John , The Neville Brothers , and The Cold . [8] She was also seen in the 1958 Elvis Presley film, King Creole , featured prominently during the opening credits but with the larger displayed name repainted near the sidewheel to read SS New Orleans, as well as in the final scenes of the 1973 Sergio Leone western "My Name is Nobody" cruising up river.

Because the wind made maneuvering the big boat difficult, she had her two side wheels removed and replaced by 1,000 horsepower (750   kW) diesel engines in 1978.

She was sold and returned to St. Louis sometime after October 1987 as her new home port. While there, she was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark on Dec. 20, 1989.

On July 27, 2011, the Department of the Interior issued a press release that included the following line; "Finally, President, a steamboat in St. Elmo, Illinois, had its designation as a National Historic Landmark withdrawn because of a loss of historic integrity." [9] [10] The ship was also removed from the National Register entirely. [11]

In 1990, President sailed her last dinner and dancing cruise before undergoing a ten million dollar renovation and conversion into a floating casino. She was purchased by what is now known as Isle of Capri Casinos . In 1991, Iowa legalized riverboat gambling and the President opened in Davenport, Iowa, with 27,000 square feet (2,500   m 2 ) of gaming space. [12] She was the second riverboat casino in the United States in modern times (opening 30 minutes after the first riverboat casino the M/V Diamond Lady opened in Bettendorf, Iowa , which was owned by Bernie Goldstein ). [13]

President retired from service in 1999 and was reported, in 2004, to be located on the Yazoo River in Mississippi . At that time, she was for sale by Isle of Capri Casinos . [14] She was also located for a time at Treasure Island in Lake McKellar at Memphis, Tennessee .

In January 2009, President was located in Alton, Illinois , where she had been listed by the National Park Service as of November 2007. She was disassembled and moved in pieces to St. Elmo, Illinois , near Effingham. [15] [16] [17] Although local businesspeople hope to re-assemble her as a non-floating tourist attraction and hotel, [3] [18] financing has yet to be secured. [19]

• List of U.S. National Historic Landmark ships, shipwrecks, and shipyards

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The Grand Excursion was a promotional voyage by train and steamboat into the Upper Mississippi River valley, USA that first took place in June 1854. It marked the first railroad connection between the East Coast and the Mississippi River, and it included dignitaries such as former president Millard Fillmore. In 2004, 150 years later, the Grand Excursion route was retraced by both riverboats and a steam locomotive.

Belle of Louisville is a steamboat owned and operated by the city of Louisville, Kentucky, and moored at its downtown wharf next to the Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere during its annual operational period. The steamboat claims itself the "most widely traveled river steamboat in American history." Belle of Louisville ' s offices are aboard Mayor Andrew Broaddus , and also appears on the list of National Historic Landmarks.

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• 1 2 3 "PRESIDENT (Steamboat)" . National Historic Landmark summary listing . National Park Service. Archived from the original on January 24, 2008 . Retrieved April 16, 2008 .
• 1 2 Leisa Zigman (July 21, 2009). "Historic St. Louis riverboat now rusted scrap" . KSDK . Retrieved December 25, 2010 . [ permanent dead link ]
• ↑ "Maritime Heritage Program - National Park Service" . Retrieved March 9, 2017 .
• ↑ Frederick Way Jr. (1994). Way's Packet Directory, 1848–1994 . Athens, OH: Ohio University Press. pp.   87–88.
• ↑ William Howland Kenney (2005). Jazz on the River . Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p.   21–23.
• ↑ Annie Amantea Blum (2017). "Chapter 2". Steamer Admiral . Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing.
• ↑ Doug McCash, "Remembering the Riverboat President music club" , Times-Picayune , November 15, 2009.
• ↑ Adam, Fetcher (July 27, 2011). "AMERICA'S GREAT OUTDOORS: Secretary Salazar Designates Four National Historic Landmarks" . U.S. Department of the Interior . Retrieved July 27, 2011 .
• ↑ "NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK DE-DESIGNATION REPORT" (PDF) . U.S. Department of the Interior . Retrieved September 29, 2009 .
• ↑ "National Register of Historic Places Listings" . Retrieved March 9, 2017 .
• ↑ Gambit Weekly's BestofNewOrleans.com October 20, 2003 article Archived November 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
• ↑ Bill Wundram; Linda Cook (July 6, 2009). "Riverboat gambling mogul Bernie Goldstein dies" . The Quad-City Times . Retrieved December 25, 2010 .
• ↑ Blake Pontchartrain (26 October 2004). "Gambit Weekly" . BestofNewOrleans . Archived from the original on 18 June 2008 . Retrieved 25 December 2010 .
• ↑ Bill Wundram (April 26, 2009). "Putting the President back together again" . The Quad-City Times . Retrieved December 25, 2010 .
• ↑ Monster Moves: President River Boat . Archived from the original on July 13, 2011 . Retrieved December 25, 2010 .
• ↑ "the Pride of the Mississippi" . Monster Moves . National Geographic Channel. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021 . Retrieved December 25, 2010 .
• ↑ Tony Reid (April 13, 2009). "A $10 million Project Will See the President, a Former Mississippi River Cruise Ship, Morphed into a Floating Hotel and Conference Center on a Lake in St Elmo, Illinois" . Herald & Review, Decatur, Ill. McClatchy-Tribune Regional News . Retrieved December 25, 2010 .
• ↑ Leisa Zigman (June 2009). "Historic St. Louis riverboat now rusted scrap" . KSDK . Retrieved September 2, 2010 . [ dead link ]
• Steamboats.org entry
• "Set of five photos from 1989 that would accompany "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: President" " . National Park Service. 1989 . Retrieved December 25, 2010 . {{ cite journal }} : Cite journal requires | journal= ( help )
• President ' s Last Location on Wikimapia

Vegas-Style Casinos in the Quad Cities

Did you know that the Quad Cities was the first in the U.S. to offer riverboat gaming? In 1991, the region launched a nationwide resurgence of gaming when the Diamond Lady Casino was the first casino to open in Bettendorf, Iowa.  The President Casino opened about an hour later on the riverfront in Davenport, Iowa.

Today, three land-based casinos operate daily in the Quad Cities – Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf, Bally's Quad Cities Casino & Hotel in Rock Island, and Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport.

The Caesars Sportsbook area of the Isle Casino is an excellent place for fans to gather for sports wagering, and the Elite Sports Book at Rhythm City Casino's Draft Day Sports Lounge features a 360-degree screen and TV screens for customers to view odds or their preferred games. Bally's Sports Bar features signature craft beers, gastro-pub menu, and the soon-to-be Bally Bet Sportsbook.

Besides gaming, each property offers a variety of dining options, beautifully appointed hotel rooms, live entertainment options, and all are close to attractions, golf, and other entertainment amenities.

Start planning your trip to the QC today and check out the details below on our QC casinos.

Gaming token President Riverboat Casino

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Scope and Contents

$5 gaming token from inaugural cruise of the President Riverboat Casino on the Mississippi River in April 1991.

• Creation: 1991

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This collection is open for research.

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Materials are available for use in the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center only. Request permission before copying materials. Personal digital cameras and scanners are allowed in the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center on a case-by-case basis. The items that a researcher may want to scan or photograph must be examined and evaluated for physical condition, copyright issues, and donor restrictions by staff. Copyright restrictions may apply; please consult Special Collections staff for further information. The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

Biographical / Historical

The company was founded in 1991 by Pittsburgh millionaire John E. Connelly who owned the Gateway Clipper Fleet and SS Admiral. Its riverboat casino The President in Davenport, Iowa which opened in April 1991 was one of the first modern riverboat casinos in the Midwest and South after they started becoming legal. It began trading on NASDAQ in 1992.[1] On June 20, 2002 President Casinos filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. On April 15, 2005 the President Casino Broadwater Resort in Biloxi was sold to Broadwater Development. On February 24, 2006, Pinnacle Entertainment announced that it would purchase the President Casino Laclede's Landing for $31.5 million. On December 21, 2006, Pinnacle Entertainment completed the purchase of the casino. It has sold all of its operations since declaring bankruptcy and as of February 2009 is making its final distribution of assets.[2] The President, Davenport, Iowa was later acquired by Isle of Capri Casinos which subsequently retired. Associated with the casino was the landmark Blackhawk Hotel in downtown Davenport. [accessed 6/22/2020 Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_Casinos]

1 items (1 small envelope sleeve)

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[Identification of Item], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center, Davenport Public Library, Davenport, Iowa.

Cite Item Description

[Identification of Item], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center, Davenport Public Library, Davenport, Iowa. https://archives.davenportlibrary.com/repositories/4/resources/877 Accessed April 19, 2024.

About the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center:

The Special Collections Department of the Davenport Public Library was established in 1982. In November of 1999, the newly renovated department opened to better serve its community and was renamed the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center. The Center acquires, arranges, describes, preserves, and makes available local history and genealogical materials concentrating on those pertaining to Davenport, Scott County, and Eastern Iowa.

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President casinos, inc..

President Casinos, Inc. develops, owns, and operates riverboat and/or dockside gaming casinos and related operations through its subsidiaries in Davenport, Iowa; Biloxi, Mississippi; and St. Louis, Missouri. Additionally, the company owns and manages hotel and ancillary facilities associated with its riverboat operations in Davenport, and operates two non-gaming dinner cruise, excursion, and sightseeing vessels on the Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri. Other of its vessels are chartered to unrelated third parties. President Casinos is the successor to businesses begun in St. Louis, Missouri, since 1985, Davenport, Iowa, since October 1990, and Biloxi, Mississippi, since August 1992. The company targets middle-income recreational gamblers.

President Casinos' venture The President riverboat in Davenport, Iowa, opened in April 1991, becoming one of the first gaming vessels in the country. During that period the company also opened The President Casino Mississippi in Biloxi, Mississippi, while President Casino's founder, Pittsburgh-based-entrepreneur John Connelly, rallied for gambling legalization in Missouri. Connelly had purchased The Admiral, a St. Louis-based entertainment vessel from Streckfus Steamers in 1981, then sold it to a group of investors in 1982. By 1988 Connelly was managing The Admiral as a dockside entertainment facility, and eventually repurchased the vessel in 1990.

Connelly, formerly one of the country's 400 richest people--and President Casino's founder, CEO, chairman, and director--has owned the Gateway Clipper fleet in Pittsburgh since 1958 and the Sheraton Hotel at Station Square in Pittsburgh since 1981. He also founded World Yacht Enterprises, a fleet of dinner cruise, sightseeing, and excursion boats in New York City in 1984, and heads J. Edward Connelly Associates, Inc., a marketing and premiums firm based in Pittsburgh. The New York Times and Fortune magazine have referred to Connelly as the "father" of incentive bank marketing.

Gambling on New Markets in the Early 1990s

In June 1992, the newly formed corporation President Casinos, Inc. prepared to make a public offering with an estimated $70 million worth of shares. The proceeds were needed to pay off debts and to prepare for expansion into gaming operations in St. Louis, Missouri&mdashsuming that gambling would be legalized there--and to further expansion along Mississippi's Gold Coast, since gambling had been approved there the previous year, subject to a county by county popular vote. An SEC filing stated that at least $3 million raised in the stock offering would be paid directly to Connelly to reimburse him for his personal costs in launching the Mississippi corporation.

Connelly's Mississippi-expansion efforts were complicated by a lawsuit filed against him by Dallas, Texas hotelier and competitor Jack Pratt, whose Pratt Hotel Corporation operates hotels and casinos in the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Both Pratt and Connelly, among others, had applied for gambling licenses in Harrison County, where gaming had been approved. The suit claimed that Connelly and his subsidiaries interfered with the Pratt group's lease for the Broadwater Beach Hotel, Casino, and Resort Club in Biloxi, Mississippi, a strategically located property. The Pratt group had successfully campaigned for passage of a local gambling referendum and had already signed a lease for the property, based on unresolved contingencies. According to Paton Huntley of the Pittsburgh Business Times, "Mr. Pratt claims Mr. Connelly subsequently persuaded the resort's owner to violate the lease so he could purchase the property for himself and establish gambling operations there--a move the suit calls an 'unlawful activity and conspiracy.' The suit asks that Mr. Pratt's lease be upheld and seeks unspecified damages from Mr. Connelly's interests and the resort's former owner, the Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation." A temporary restraining order was filed, prohibiting the transfer of the resort to anyone refusing to honor Mr. Pratt's lease. The Pratt Hotel Corporation was engaged in a similar ongoing legal battle in New Jersey, involving an Atlantic City casino property, against real estate developer Donald Trump and Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione, as reported by Paton Huntley. Eventually, all claims in the "Pratt Litigation" were dismissed "with prejudice." The Pratt settlement agreement initially cost the company a hefty $1 million first installment, financed by a loan made to the Company by BH Acquisition Corporation, a company controlled by Connelly. The note funded the first of four payments to Pratt's group.

Connelly claimed in the Securities and Exchange Filing Notes that new market expansion was required to offset threatened company revenues in Davenport, Iowa. Ebbing revenues were anticipated as a consequence of the legalization of gambling on the other side of the Mississippi River, in the state of Illinois. Connelly then sold his President Riverboat Casino-Mississippi company to the Davenport firm for 177,867 shares of stock, where Connelly already held a 72.5 percent interest. From its dockside and riverboat operations in Iowa and Mississippi, President Riverboat Casinos reported fiscal 1993 revenues of $61.3 million, showing a net profit of $3 million.

The company entered into a partnership to manage a land-based gaming casino to be owned by the St. Regis Mohawk Indian Tribe, but by 1995, due to an upheld management agreement with the Tribe, President Casinos wrote off its $4.1 million investment in the project. Elsewhere, a Gary, Indiana riverboat join-venture project was reconsidered and the company again backed out, writing off another $1.1 million. An option agreement in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, followed suit with an investment write-off of $11 million due to the uncertainty of riverboat gaming legalization within that state. In Mississippi, the company sold its floating casino in Tunica (which had opened in 1993 and closed in 1995 as a result of competition and poor location), for approximately $15 million, freeing needed cash.

In an effort to improve its Biloxi market position, the company chartered the Gold Coast barge from American Gaming and Entertainment Ltd., with the hope of establishing a casino large enough to compete with the dozen others then operating along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Revenues from the Gold Coast barge were at a break-even level due to competitive pressures, the strain of paying considerable rental fees on the vessel, fees to lease the mooring site, and fees for parking facilities.

In September 1993, the company had applied to the Missouri Gaming Commission for two gaming licenses, one for the $37.8 million riverboat casino, The Admiral , a five-deck, 400-foot long, 90-foot wide vessel, which had served as the largest passenger vessel on the Mississippi for 40 years. Originally christened the S.S. Albatross , the vessel operated as a dining and entertainment cruise ship since 1940. After an extensive renovation, President Casinos planned to dock it at the base of the famous Gateway Arch in St. Louis, within walking distance of Busch Stadium, the Cervantes Convention Center, the Trans World Dome, and linked to hotels, restaurants, and offices by a Metro Link light-rail system. The second license request was for a barge that would moor next to it.

The company had already canceled a second stock offering the previous June, after losing its bid for a Louisiana gaming license. The stock revenues were to finance the costs of moving into the Louisiana and Missouri markets, in addition to providing working capital. Due to the limited licensing of prime, dockside locations along designated St. Louis river fronts, and given that permanently-docked boats are less expensive to operate than cruising ones, competition for dockside positions was intense.

Fortunately for the company, in May 1994, Connelly's efforts were rewarded and a gaming license was granted. The vessel, sporting 64 blackjack tables, 10 craps tables, 22 poker tables, and approximately 400 video poker machines commenced operations. Later in the year, Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment permitting "games of chance," including slot machines, which The Admiral soon added to its repertoire. The company pays leasing fees for the site, payable to the City of St. Louis. Missouri regulations do not require that dockside vessels actually cruise, but simulated cruising requirements are imposed, which allow entry on a vessel for only a 45-minute period every two hours.

Fleeting Fears Concern Local Officials: 1995

In 1995 President Casinos submitted a bid to open a casino complex in downtown St. Louis near Laclede's Landing, the site of an existing gaming complex. Parking at the company's existing site was inadequate, and Company Management considered moving The Admiral downtown. Three competing companies had also applied for licensing. According to Rob Staggenborg of the St. Louis Business Journal , at least one person on the board of aldermen feared that should the city grant a second gaming license to President Casinos, the company "would in effect have a monopoly on the downtown river front." By this time The Admiral' s performance had proven disappointing compared to revenues of competitors in the suburbs, and financial analysts speculated that the financing of such a major project, involving infrastructure development costs, would be difficult for President Casinos to procure. The company determined that while having a second riverboat casino would allow for virtually continuous boarding for guests upon one of the two vessels, the capital outlay could not be justified. The Admiral remained positioned at the base of the Arch, and although five St. Louis-area mooring licenses have been granted President Casinos, gaming operations are limited to its original gaming vessel, and the remaining licenses permit the operation of the company's dinner cruise, excursion, and sightseeing riverboats.

The company was soon finding it difficult to remain financially afloat. President Casinos had reported a fiscal 1994 loss of $20.2 million, largely reflecting expenses incurred in pursuing possible new business in Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The company announced in early 1995 that it would be more selective in pursuing opportunities in the future, and that they would be disposing under-utilized assets. President Casinos had more than competition to contend with. Floods caused the periodic closing of the Davenport operations, where The President , a 70-year-old vessel, was required to undergo an extensive five-month Coast Guard hull inspection. It was temporarily replaced by a smaller, three-deck vessel, offering one-third less gambling space. In the meantime, Lady Luck Bettendorf , a competing vessel across the river, was luring more and more of the market.

The time had come for an executive shift. Coinciding with rumors of Connelly's ill health, in March 1995 John S. Aylesworth came on board as executive vice-president and chief operating officer of President Casinos. He had worked as a managing executive officer for Beverly Hills' billionaire Marvin Davis's operations, as chief financial officer of SpectraVision, and was previously with the Sports Club Company, an operator of premier health and fitness facilities. Connelly told Rob Staggenborg of the St. Louis Business Journal that "The realignment of responsibilities of our senior management and the addition of John Aylesworth to our management team greatly enhances our operational strength."

By the mid-1990s the entire industry had experienced insufficient returns on investments, and President Casinos was floundering. In three years time the company amassed more than $100 million in debt. After shares had fallen more than 80 percent since January of 1995, Aylesworth reported that deep-pocketed gaming concerns had out-competed them. A stockholder proxy statement revealed that Connelly and Connelly-controlled businesses had received nearly $4.7 million from President Casinos during the 1995 fiscal year, as reported by Len Boselovic in Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News . Annual lease payments of $3.2 million for the Biloxi casino property were paid to a Connelly company, in addition to $883,000 "for the use of a plane owned by a Connelly affiliate, purchasing $140,000 of promotional items from a Connelly affiliate, and $45,000 to Connelly's Drury Inn Hotel, where President Casinos executives stayed and ate while they were in St. Louis on business," according to Boselovic. In the summer of 1997 President Casinos agreed to pay Connelly, who owned 31.8 percent of the company, approximately $40 million for the Biloxi site gaming operation, rather than to continue renting the property. President Casinos reported that the sale allowed them to concentrate on operations in St. Louis and Davenport. The company stated that "the payments were arms-length transactions at fair market prices."

Recovery Plan for the Late 1990s

The company's retrenchment strategy included the selling of assets--and cost cutting. In a July, 1997 interview with Frank Legato of Casino Journal, CFO Aylesworth said, "When I was approached for this job, I knew exactly what had happened here, without even being in that [this] industry. We knew what we had to do. First, President had invested a lot of money and had realized no return on it. If that happens too long, the interest you're paying is going to eat you alive--that's Business 101. We had to monetize as many of our assets as we could, and we had a lot of excess," he continued. Within a year of Aylesworth's leadership the company sold approximately $20 million worth of non-revenue-producing assets which were needed to fund interest payments and requisite capital expenditure programs. In Iowa, the company made efficient use of time and money toward refurbishing The President by adding more slots and other amenities to the vessel while it underwent the extensive close-down for the hull inspection, along with making improvements to its adjoining entry barge. Corporate overhead costs were slashed by $5 million in fiscal 1997. Virtually all of its capital expenditure program was funded through the sale of assets, and the company showed a net cash increase from investments. The original Biloxi vessel, President Casino Mississippi, and another non-revenue-producing cruising vessel, worth a combined estimated value of $45 million, remained to be sold.

In the meantime, market analysts noted the competitive challenges ahead: In St. Louis, an enormous joint venture project between Harrah's and Player's International at Riverport Center threatened to overshadow the smaller casinos, although the company had expressed confidence that the metropolitan area would be impacted more than the company itself. The historical significance of The Admiral set it apart from the newer casinos, some said. In Biloxi, a growing resort area, President Casinos sought a joint-venture partner to further develop a 260-acre site, which included two hotels, a 138-slip marina, a dockside casino, and an adjacent 18-hole golf course. In addition, if gambling were to be legalized in Pennsylvania, the company held a prime site on the Philadelphia waterfront, as a gamble on future casino prospects.

Principal Subsidiaries: The Connelly Group, L.P.; The President Riverboat Casino-Mississippi, Inc.; President Riverboat Casino-Missouri, Inc.

Source: International Directory of Company Histories , Vol. 22. St. James Press, 1998.

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The Regional Development Authority strategically funds initiatives to create a vibrant, inclusive, and growing community.

Regional Development Authority Granting History

The Regional Development Authority (RDA) was founded in 1989 for the purpose of becoming a Qualified Sponsoring Organization (QSO) for a riverboat casino in Davenport, Iowa. Iowa law requires that gambling licenses be held by non-profit organizations and regulated by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. The agreement between the QSO and the casino operator includes payments to the QSO for community development grants.

The RDA received a gambling license in 1991 and partnered with the President Riverboat Casino in Davenport until October of 2000. At that time, the casino was sold and is currently operating as the Rhythm City Casino Resort. The casino was moved to a land-based location in 2016.

RDA has a volunteer board and a full time executive officer. The RDA operates somewhat the same as a community foundation, with the exception that it has a single income source – the Rhythm City Casino Resort. Grants are made from current income and the amount of money available for grants is tied to the casino gaming receipts.

The history of RDA grants is provided below – the first 26 years are totaled in the first document. A list of each grant cycle's awards is provided.

Fall 2023 Awards

Spring 2023 Awards

Fall 2022 Awards

Spring 2022 Awards

Fall 2021 Awards

Spring 2021 Awards

Fall 2020 Awards

Spring 2020 Awards

Fall 2019 Awards

Spring 2019 Awards

Fall 2018 Awards

Spring 2018 Awards

RDA Grant Totals 1991 - 2017 Cycles 1 - 52

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1 Dollar Gaming Token - The President Riverboat Casino Davenport, Iowa

© Wayne Bartosh

One Dollar $1 value Casino Gaming Token 1991. Image of the front of a riverboat.

Script: Latin

Lettering: The President Riverboat Casino Davenport. Iowa

Lettering surrounds circle with casino logo inside mint mark above $$1 below.

Lettering: One Dollar Gaming Token Redeemable By Player Only The President Riverboat Casino gd $1

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