ALTOONA — Cedar Rapids casino backers beat the odds and won big Thursday.

After more than a decade of trying to bring a casino to Linn County, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission voted 4-1 to grant a gaming license to build a planned $275 million casino and entertainment center near downtown Cedar Rapids.

Casino backers’ long-held dreams to build a gambling facility in Cedar Rapids had been repeatedly thwarted in the past — both by lawmakers and state regulators — over concerns that a new facility would drain or “cannibalize” revenues from existing Iowa casinos.

A lawsuit, however, is likely.

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission last month declined to decide whether a 2021 Linn County gambling referendum allows a casino to be built in Cedar Rapids.

The referendum ballot language said gambling “may continue.”

Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, which could lose more than $30 million of revenue annually if the Cedar Rapids casino is built, contends that the approval for gambling is invalid because gambling had never begun in the county.

It asked the commission to issue a declaratory order that said it lacks the authority to issue a gambling license in Linn County because of the invalid language. The commission voted 4-1 Jan. 23 to refuse the request. Riverside had 30 days to appeal that refusal to district court.

The casino would be built on Cedar Rapids’ northwest side on vacant land that was once the site of a hotel until it was demolished after sustaining damage in the 2008 and 2016 floods.

The proposed Cedar Crossing Casino & Entertainment Center would include 700 slot machines, 22 game tables, restaurants, bars, an entertainment venue with a 1,500-person capacity, an arts and cultural center and a STEM lab for children.

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The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission had twice rejected proposals — in 2014 and 2017 — to bring a casino to Cedar Rapids. At the time, commissioners cited concerns that a new facility would siphon off existing customers from current casino properties in Eastern Iowa.

Two market studies ordered by the commission say a proposed Cedar Rapids casino would largely rely on pulling patrons and revenue from other Iowa casinos, but add approximately $60 million in net new gaming revenues to Iowa annually.

The state’s existing casinos support a moratorium, saying Iowa’s casino market — with 19 commercial casinos and four tribal casinos — is saturated and that a new facility would “cannibalize” revenues from them.

Casino operators and business, government and nonprofit leaders from Davenport, Dubuque, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Riverside and the Meskwaki Nation have warned that granting a Linn County casino license would lead to job losses and business closures, and strain local government and nonprofit budgets due to reduced tax and grant revenue from gambling operations.

Backers said the state’s second-largest city should be allowed to benefit from gaming, the same as other communities, and that growth in Iowa’s gaming industry and competition from neighboring states could make the proposed casino more relevant.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell and representatives from Iowa State Building and Construction Trades Council, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, Master Builders of Iowa and affiliated local unions have said the proposed casino would boost the local economy, create jobs, support community projects and enhance the quality of life by attracting more tourists and providing more entertainment options.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com