.
No more ice in the river, no more snow on the levee. I was standing beneath the Arch looking north when I shot this. Don't fall in, kid! The current is mean.
That's Eads Birdge in the middle background, of course. Behind it is The Admiral, the great river excursion boat where all of St. Louis went for a special time back when I was in college and before. The hull has not been seaworthy for years. It's been a casino for quite a while, dying slowly now in the face of newer, bigger, glitzier neighbors. Which reminds me - yesterday, the 11th one in the STL metro area opened on the river in the southern suburbs. We're a regular little Las Vegas-on-Mississippi. Local promoters plan to market our town as a gambling destination, like the aforementioned desert illusion, Atlantic City and the Mississippi Gulf coast. Is that a good thing for the region? Tell us what you think.
TOMORROW: The Idiotarod. Not Ididerod. Idiotarod
No more ice in the river, no more snow on the levee. I was standing beneath the Arch looking north when I shot this. Don't fall in, kid! The current is mean.That's Eads Birdge in the middle background, of course. Behind it is The Admiral, the great river excursion boat where all of St. Louis went for a special time back when I was in college and before. The hull has not been seaworthy for years. It's been a casino for quite a while, dying slowly now in the face of newer, bigger, glitzier neighbors. Which reminds me - yesterday, the 11th one in the STL metro area opened on the river in the southern suburbs. We're a regular little Las Vegas-on-Mississippi. Local promoters plan to market our town as a gambling destination, like the aforementioned desert illusion, Atlantic City and the Mississippi Gulf coast. Is that a good thing for the region? Tell us what you think.
TOMORROW: The Idiotarod. Not Ididerod. Idiotarod
Very nice photo, a good story and many interesting informations. Unfortunately I don't know St. Louis, but I know Reno. I hope, the plan will not realized. Where the people shall have the money?
ReplyDeleteI remember the Admiral from when I lived in St. Louis in the 1960's. My view of riverboat casinos is why have the fiction that these are boats somehow detached from the land when they just sit in the river like a barge. Wouldn't they spin off more economic development if they were in a business district or entertainment zone where people could go from one to another like in Vegas? That would add some vitality and people on the streets, which deserted downtowns crave and need. Instead, the only ancillary development a riverboat would spawn is, I assume, a parking lot on land for people going to the riverboat.
ReplyDeleteRob- I'm glad I found your blog. I've been overseas for 3 1/2 years, very homesick and missing St. Louis and my family. It makes things a little more bearable that you're bringing some of home to me in your pictures and I look forward to it daily. Keep up the good work and thank you! Is the Eads Bridge still in operation?
ReplyDelete«Louis» is of the opinion that the gambling sucks more out of the economy than it injects. He hates to read that St.Louis has succumbed to gambling fever.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be interesting to see how St. Louis is marketed. We're a city of so much history and character it'll be kind of odd to see it reduced to "What happens in St. Louis, Stays in St. Louis" But I'm young and I believe in looking toward the future and if we rise from our industrial past as a destination for gambling..well..who knows. I am glad that the number of Casinos in Missouri were capped. With our region being so fragmented and fighting eachother tooth and nail for every last tax dollar, it was only a matter of time before every municipality put in motion plans for a Casino.
ReplyDeleteCasino revenue has gone up but I'm afraid its more our money than from tourists. Maybe that'll change. Count me amongst those that don't want to see anymore money sucked out of St. Louis.
BTW, first time poster longtime reader. Your photos are amazing.
nope. in the long run not a good thing as far as i'm concerned.
ReplyDeleteThat kid is freaking me out. Please tell me those two strolling were looking over her.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend
Ciao
PS word verif: angst... how apt
The Admiral looks like an impressive ship. I can't understand why it is no longer used. I guess it had to make way for progress as everything else.
ReplyDeleteThe Mississippi up here near me still has ice along it's banks. In fact, the river between two islands is choked with ice and snow.
ReplyDeleteI suppose if a casino brings in tax revenue. Our stupid politicians in Minnesota gave up any tax revenue from Native American casinos. Now they are looking at state run gamin scenarios to increase their coffers. Maybe if they spent less; I'm not a fan of using casino as a revenue generator.