JOHNSTON -- And the winner is….Isle of Capri.

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission this morning voted, 4-1, to give a gambling license to the Cedar Valley Gaming Co.'s proposed casino near Lost Island Adventurepark south of town.

However, the commission discussion and vote was a nail biter. It was not certain whether Waterloo would get any license until the last commissioner voted, because one commissioner, Kate Cutler of Council Bluffs, initially picked the Cedar Landing Hotel & Casino site downtown and another, Michael Mahaffey of Montezuma, voted against granting any licenses.

Only when commission chairman Diane Hamilton, who spoke last, gave her final choices, was the outcome certain.

"We were wondering where we were going to get our third vote," said Don Hoth, president of the Black Hawk County Gaming Association, promoting the Isle of Capri/Lost Island project.

His anxiety, however, turned to euphoria when Hamilton weighed in for Isle of Capri.

"I'm ecstatic," said Hoth. "This will be the biggest economic development boon to Black Hawk County since John Deere first came to Waterloo," in 1918. Hoth has been promoting a floating casino here for four years, since he unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2001.

In the final official commission vote, Cutler voted with the commission majority, for a 4-1 vote in favor of Isle of Capri/Lost Island; a site in Worth County in north-central Iowa; the Wild Rose project in Emmetsburg in Palo Alto County and a project in Riverside in Washington County south of Iowa City. Mahaffey cast the only vote against that motion.

Commissioners Gerald Bair and Joyce Jarding, who weighed in first and second, both selected four sites in the state out of a possible 10 for casino licenses, with both giving a nod to the Lost Island site which would be operated by the Isle of Capri, which has a casinos in Bettendorf, Davenport and Marquette-McGregor.

Bair thought the Isle of Capri would offer a greater financial return to the community, liked the involvement of the Bertch family of Waterloo who operate the adjacent Lost Island Adventurepark, and said the site as a whole would be a "destination" site that will bring visitors from a wide area.

Bair also cited a Greater Cedar Valley Alliance-commissioned consultants' study, and public sentiment as support Isle of Capri, citing a Courier unscientific on-line poll which showed a substantial amount of support for that project.

Jarding, who said she wished proponents of three competing Waterloo proposals could have "gotten together" on a single plan, said Isle of Capri would return a substantial amount of revenue to the revitalization of downtown Waterloo, which she said is on the rebound.

For that same reason, commissioner Cutler voted for the Cedar Landing Hotel & Casino in downtown Waterloo, which she said would provide "synergy" with other downtown initiatives like the Cedar Valley Tech Works and the city's downtown Riverfront Renaissance project. "I think a casino downtown would boost the whole area," she said.

A hushed room listened as each commissioner gave his and her belief on the best sites for a new casino.

Commissioners had indicated a desire to award between three and five licenses. Several commission members said they were not interested in licensing more than one casino in Black Hawk County.

Isle of Capri Waterloo Hotel and Casino was the first proposal in Waterloo and worked with the nonprofit Black Hawk County Gaming Association to promote a referendum allowing riverboat gaming locally. That measure passed with 66 percent of the vote in 2003.

The Biloxi, Miss.-based Isle of Capri has touted its location at the intersection of U.S. Highways 218, 380 and 20 and its proximity to the existing Lost Island Adventurepark as creating a regional tourist draw. Promoters have said the proposed $98 million project would benefit from the IOC's deep pockets and ability to reinvest in the casino and 200-room hotel.

But a group of local investors in cooperation with Catfish Bend Casino in Fort Madison developed a competing application for the $99 million Cedar Landing Hotel and Casino in downtown Waterloo. The project includes a 1,000-stall parking ramp and the renovation of the historic Russell-Lamson Building into hotel-parking ramp.

Cedar Landing proponents said the local ownership structure will funnel more money back into the community, while the location will spur downtown revitalization efforts, which have started under the Riverfront Renaissance and Cedar Valley TechWorks plans just getting off the ground.

The last proposal to come forward would return gaming to the former Waterloo Greyhound Park, which closed in the mid 1990s under a cloud of bankruptcy. But the National Cattle Congress is partnering with the Meskwaki Indians, who operate their own casino near Tama, and a group of private investors to propose the $45 million Black Hawk County Greyhound Park and Casino.

Contact Pat Kinney at (319) 291-1484 or pat.kinney@wcfcourier.com.