By Staci DaSilva
sdasilva@kcautv.com
It's a Northeast Nebraska development company going against an internationally-known casino chain.
But Ho-Chunk, Inc. isn't intimidated.
"I was actually trying to remember the last time Hard Rock was cool and I pulled out my old Hard Rock T-shirt and it was a size Large," said Ho-Chunk CEO Lance Morgan.
You see, on Wednesday, the Missouri River Historical Development or MRHD, Sioux City's current non-profit gaming license holder, announced its partnership with Sioux City Entertainment, a subsidiary of a Las Vegas gambling company, to build a Hard Rock Casino in the former Battery Building.
But doing so, does not end the proposal process for everyone.
Lance Morgan said, "Our preference was to partner with MRHD and they've chose to go in another direction. To be honest, there's a lot of legal issues surrounding them and litigation and so we had actually talked about forming our own non-profit."
That's because Ho-Chunk would need a non-profit to hold its gaming license if its casino were to be built. The company is keeping that partnership private for the time being.
But CEO Lance Morgan did say his proposal would include 2 sites downtown and a $110 million price tag.
"We think that we have a Sioux City-based proposal and all our money for the last 20 years has gone to Pennsylvania and now it's going to go to Las Vegas and we don't support that one bit. We want the money to go back into Sioux City," said Morgan.
Operators have until November 1st to give their proposals to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.
The Sioux City City Council also has the opportunity to endorse a particular proposal, but it hasn't gambled that away just yet.
Sioux City City Council Member Rhonda Capron said, "It's not over 'til it's over. There are other proposals out there. We have to give everybody a shot at it and look at what's best for the City."
As far as the Argosy Casino is concerned and its employees, it's been said in the past that the boat would stay open until the new casino is built and the Argosy employees could be used at the new casino.
