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by Iowa's News Now Staff
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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (IOWA'S NEWS NOW) — As Iowa's two-year gaming moratorium expires on June 30, Cedar Rapids mayor Tiffany O'Donnell says she's "cautiously optimistic" about the chance to apply for a new gaming license in Linn County – and the chance to potentially bring a casino to the City of Five Seasons after more than a decade of failed efforts.
Peninsula Pacific Entertainment and the Linn County Gaming Association announced Wednesday that they'll apply for a new gaming license at the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission's next meeting on July 8 in Altoona. If a license is approved, the groups will move ahead with their plans for Cedar Crossing – a casino proposed in May 2022 at the old Cooper's Mill site on the west side of the Cedar River.
In a Zoom interview on Wednesday with Iowa's News Now anchor Mitch Fick, Mayor O'Donnell confirmed that she'll be at the IRGC meeting as well "to find out what they want from us."
"Ideally, what will happen is they'll invite us to proceed. We'll co-file with Linn County Gaming and P2E," O'Donnell said. "Last time – once the application was in – there was a feasibility study. There was a site visit. I don't know if that's what they'll do this time around – but having the moratorium expire is encouraging because it really does signal an opportunity."
While the Cedar Crossing proposal hasn't changed over the past two years, Mayor O'Donnell acknowledges there's a better understanding of how Iowans game now than there was in 2022.
"This really is a gaming facility with lots of opportunity for those who don't game. It also reflects the way people gamble now," she said. "Sports betting has gotten even bigger since that first proposal came out, so I would anticipate leaning into that – as well as the other amenities that are a part of that entertainment complex."
But chances for a casino in Cedar Rapids might not rely on changes in gaming behaviors. It may rely on a hope for a change in philosophy of the IRGC – who have rejected gaming applications for Linn County in 2014 and 2017 while citing potential cannibalization from other area casinos.
"They hold all the cards – pardon the pun." O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell does think new competition – like in Nebraska, which just opened its first casino in September 2022 – is "the biggest change of all" and could tip things in favor of application approval.
"Some of those competitors are the ones we've been protecting as a state, frankly," O'Donnell said.
Voters in Linn County approved referendums for gaming in 2013 and 2021. The IRGC started market analyses for the area in early 2022 before the legislature approved the two-year license moratorium.

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