The Rhythm City Casino on the Mississippi river in downtown Davenport is a step closer to being retired. Dan Kehl, whose corporation already operates casinos in Larchwood in northwest Iowa and Riverside in southeast Iowa, was chosen by the casino’s non-profit group to build the new land-based casino in Davenport.
Kehl announced he now has options on about 100 acres of land just south of Interstate 80 near Brady Street — a major north-side traffic artery. “The timing on that is, we’ll operate the riverboat for a couple years while the new facility is being constructed and we expect that to open sometime in 2015” Kehl explains.
He says the new site will give more visibility to the new facility. “We have a beautiful hotel-resort planned for the Quad Cities. Ninty-five hotel rooms, multiple restaurants, a 1,500 seat theater — just a really beautiful facility,” Kehl says.
Davenport City leaders and the State Racing and Gaming Commission have been pushing for a new land-based casino to better compete with an Illinois casino located just across the river.