Yankton officials want to build a casino

Leaders from Yankton announced that they’re considering a push to build a casino in the area.

US.- Yankton officials said that they’re working on a measure that would allow the construction of a casino and entertainment center in downtown Yankton, in South Dakota. The leaders believe that this project would improve the quality of life of the residents.

Senator Bernie Hunhoff said: “I think the challenge is we need to compete with Omaha, Lincoln and Minneapolis. Just employers alone tell us they need an additional 500 for the next several years. That’s a big number for a town our size.” The committee that’s invested in the idea consider that the project would help erase three major issues such as historic preservationn, life quality and employment. Furthermore, they believe that a casino would boost their revenue.

Hunhoff believes that a casino in Port Yankton would certainly help in many ways: “We want to model Deadwood when it comes to historic preservation, but we’d be a very different model than Deadwood or than most casinos in other parts of the country. We want one license, we want it held by a nonprofit. Historic preservation would be a big part of that, but also quality of life improvements could be anything from, you know, other tourism improvements, riverboats some people have asked for, to libraries or children museums.”

According to KSFY, Mollie Grey, Downtown Development Coordinator, said that the entertainment center would connect the building directly to the Missouri River, which would be something that the state doesn’t have. In order to make it happen, the state needs to vote to approve Yankton’s license. Whilst the facility would cost approximately US$40 million, it is estimated that it would also generate more than US$4 million annually in gaming tax revenues.