Casino driven: Communities on both sides of border weigh pros, cons
Posted on Saturday, November 15, 2008
Daily Record photograph by Charles Fowler This aerial photograph taken Aug. 13 shows the construction that was going on at the Cherokee Casino in West Siloam Springs, Okla.
WEST SILOAM SPRINGS, Okla. — The economy has some mayors in northwest Arkansas tightening the budget straps and, perhaps, even nibbling their nails a bit behind closed doors. Meanwhile, Elaine Carr, mayor of West Siloam Springs — situated just across the Oklahoma state line from Benton County’s westernmost community, Siloam Springs — is as happy and optimistic as ever.
When Carr wakes up in the morning, one of the first things she sees in her community of 850 residents is the new 200, 000-square-foot Cherokee Casino and the stream of cars pouring into its giant parking lot. But this small-town mayor was smiling long before the doors opened and the slots started spitting money on Monday.
“ This is a very big deal for us — the biggest we’ve ever experienced, ” Carr said, “ but I’m looking across the street at some open property and thinking about the opportunities this casino just created. ”
Directly across U. S Highway 412 from the Cherokee Casino, there’s a stretch of open land, an empty gravel parking lot, a gas station and liquor store, and a manufactured-homes sales lot. Just down the highway, there’s a storage rental facility, a couple of tin buildings for sale and a Mexican restaurant. That, Carr believes, is about to change significantly.
“ At least two hotels have expressed interest in anticipation of the casino opening, ” Carr said. “ There’s also been a company interested in doing an outlet mall or a mini mall. There are two restaurants waiting on our natural-gas service — and I anticipate that being online by this spring. ”
Just across the Oklahoma-Arkansas state line on U. S. 412, Siloam Springs leadership has been listening closely.
“ I’ve heard those same things about what could be coming to West Siloam (Springs ), ” said Wayne Mays, president of the Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce. “ At one point, I was hearing about a large multipurpose arena and convention center type of facility. Most recently, I’ve even heard talk of putting a walk bridge over Highway 412, forming a connection from the casino to these potential projects. ”
The one thing Mays and others can’t predict is what effect the struggling economy will have on the timing or likelihood of those potential projects becoming reality. Carr’s sources have convinced her that West Siloam Springs will change tremendously.
“ What I’m hearing is, in five years we could have a little Branson, Mo., entertainment strip, ” Carr said. “ I believe that. You’re going to have some people in any community concerned about some of the negatives that could come with a big casino, but I believe the positives far outweigh the negatives. ”
It would appear that neighboring Siloam Springs stands to benefit as well, particularly if taking into account that studies conducted by the Cherokee Casino suggest approximately 75 percent of its traffic arrives via the Arkansas side of U. S. 412. But opinions on whether the positives outweigh the negatives depend on who you talk to.
“ There’s no question Siloam Springs is in the immediate impact area, ” Mays said. “ This will have a huge impact on us. The casino is a magnet. Whenever something like this locates in or near your community, other businesses and opportunities tend to pop up around it.
“ I’m excited about the increased traffic that will be coming through our community, stopping at our businesses — restaurants, gas stations, stores. The Chamber and Siloam Springs will not be promoting gambling itself, but it is a legal business where it is. There are positives, like the 1, 000 jobs it’s expected to create. You want to position yourself to take advantage of those opportunities. ”
While the Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce, of which Cherokee Casino is a dues-paying member, can see positives, as well as the potential issues, a casino could create, 12-year Siloam Springs resident Tom Perry finds himself leaning heavily toward the negative.
“ I think everything about this shouldn’t be just rah-rah, ” Perry said. “ There should be a voice of caution out there. You can’t argue with the job creation and the economics stimulus, to a degree. But this casino has restaurants, so isn’t this pulling away from our own restaurants ? There’s going to be a hotel on the property, so won’t that take away from our own hotels ? I would just temper against the economic boom this would bring to these two communities. ”
Siloam Springs city administrator David Cameron said he does not discount any of the potential negatives.
“ I wish the casino success, I really do, ” Cameron said. “ There are positives, like the additional traffic that will come through our community and the job creation. The entertainment factor is something a lot of people look for. But the downside is, you will see an increase in crime, probably. I know we’ve assisted on law-enforcement calls where people have come from the casino. ”
At the same time, Siloam Springs has long had a contract to provide water, sewer and fire service to its Oklahoma neighbor. The opening of the new Cherokee Casino presented an opportunity to strike a deal that both continued that service and increased the payback coming into Siloam Springs.
“ The casino, it took off and increased the demand on our infrastructure, ” Cameron said. “ We couldn’t justify having to raise our own residents’ rates for something that was going to another community. ”
So a new deal was signed in which Siloam Springs receives $ 75, 000 annually to be the secondary responder to fires in West Siloam Springs. Siloam Springs also has a deal on the table to continue extending emergency medical services to West Siloam Springs for an increased annual rate, but its Oklahoma neighbor has not yet made a decision. Last year alone, Cameron said, Siloam Springs EMS services responded to more than 200 calls in West Siloam Springs.
In addition, Siloam Springs will continue to provide water to the city of West Siloam Springs at a significantly increased rate.
“ The rate covers all West Siloam Springs’ future growth and helps pay for our capital infrastructure, too, ” Cameron said. “ We’ve been providing these services, but we can’t collect property tax, sales tax and other taxes like we do from our own residents. So our water rates to West Siloam Springs have been adjusted to make up for that. ”
Whatever else takes place — positive or negative — will play itself out over time. Perry said he and a host of other residents will be watching nervously.
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