By Marshall Griffin, St. Louis Public Radio
Jefferson City, Mo. – The deadline for companies to apply for Missouri's lone available casino license arrives at 5:00 p.m. on September 1st, one week from today.
Gaming officials remain mum on which, if any, potential developer is in the lead for the license formerly held by the President Casino, which went out of business in St. Louis earlier this year.
Clarence Greeno, Assistant Deputy Director of the Missouri Gaming Commission, says they'll begin reviewing applications after September first.
"Public hearings are going to be held in the areas from which applications are received," Greeno said. "Obviously then there will be presentations made to the commission by the applicants."
More than a dozen companies have expressed interest, including two that want to develop casino resorts near the Chain of Rocks Bridge in North St. Louis. Greeno says it's entirely possible that no one will get the license.
"The commission might even find that now is not the right time," Greeno said. "We will not know, the commission will not know, until they get all of the applications in and have the opportunity to evaluate."
Other casino resorts are being proposed in Cape Girardeau and Louisiana, Missouri, neither of which have casinos, along with another in the Kansas City area.
A decision on whether to award the license, and to whom, is expected by the end of the year.