Casino run by Lake of the Ozarks turned down by Missourians

After state voters turned down Amendment 5 on Tuesday, November, the 13 land-based casinos in Missouri will stay that same.

Should it be approved, the amendment would have opened the path for a casino along the Osage River close to the Bagnell Dam at the Lake of the Ozarks. On Tuesday, however, the initiative was turned down by a 52% to 48% vote according to the Missouri secretary of state office.

Every one of the current casinos in the state runs alongside the rivers Mississippi and Missouri. Amendment 5 would have enabled building of casinos on or close to manmade bodies of water. Built by the US army during the 1920s, the Lake of the Ozarks meets that criteria.

Two main supporters of the amendment were the Osage River Gaming and Convention Committee (OGCC) and Bally's Corp. The two had long suggested a casino for the location and turned in updated drawings late in September. Already running a casino in Kansas City is Bally. Other bidders would have also had the chance to submit a bid for the licence should Amendment 5 have been approved.

The loss essentially nullifies years of effort by the OGCC to get the issue on the ballot. A fire that destroyed the President Riverboat Casino created a fresh licence opportunity in 2009. The OGCC intended to run an initiative petition by 2018, but Representative Rocky Miller convinced them to try and pass the matter as legislation.

The epidemic threw off plans for 2020 and later caused legislation to fail in 2022 and 2023. The OGCC decided this year to follow the petition path and finally succeeded in placing it on the ballot on August 30th after legal challenges were overcome. It is unknown if the organisation will keep on its mission following this most recent loss.

The loss of Amendment 5 is a major triumph for Osage Nation, which is fighting for its own casino close by without competition. Opposing the ballot initiative as well as the past law, the tribe had been instrumental. First tribal casino in the state, its $60 million (£46.6 million/€55.9 million) facility in Miller County would be

It just requires federal approval since it is a Class II venue and does not call for state permission. 500 Nations claims that stakeholders are still awaiting that clearance without any schedule, but the elimination of the OGCC proposal now leaves only one casino project under development in the region. The Osage run seven Oklahoma casinos at present.

While Missouri does not have any Indian reserves, the tribe claims ancestral background to the Lake of the Ozarks. Its website states that homages such City of Osage Beach, Osage County and School of the Osage still reflect its "historical influence in the Lake region is still found today."