After several delays, the Isle of Capri Casino opens tonight in Waterloo. Vice President and General Manager, Kim Hardy, says the casino complex will feature 11-hundred slot machines, 31 table games, four restaurants, 195 hotel rooms and 5,000 feet of convention space. Hardy says the casino will give the community an economic boost.
He says they look to do 100-million dollars in revenue and they’ll pay 30-percent of that in state and city taxes. Hardy says the casino is also creating hundreds of jobs, as they’ll employ 750 to 800 people with 700 fulltime employees and 500 from Black Hawk county with an average pay rate of 10 to 10 and half dollars an hour. The doors open tonight.
The public opening is at seven o’clock, and he says they’ll have showgirls, music and all kinds of entertainment. The casino is the last of the four new casinos approved by the Racing and Gaming Commission to open for business.