The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 1

csfrdWi-fei American Queen i Bulls trade UC star -'Tllp drops by for a day I Blount to Lakers 'llVZ Shell be back again for Tall Stacks He'll be reunited with Van Exel putt A Gannett Newspaper 501,100 Readers Daily Saturday July 1, 1995 Final EditionEast 35 cents FN0UI1RF1H VMNIVllNllXiri Dollars set, stadium focus shifts to design 7 Mmumn sx WSM of their XT OWE The winners Rising Sun plans to get its boat in the water first Lawrenceburg A Cincinnati i -iJUi if Architects' ideas include 7 Reds Hall of Fame, park BY ANNE MICHAUD The Cincinnati Enquirer Cincinnati's two-stadium riverfront should have an oval football field with seats close to the action, an old-fashioned baseball park, a Reds Hall of Fame and a large park opening to a view of the Ohio River. Those ideas from architects' conceptual drawings were presented to the stadium task force Friday, one day after a financing plan was worked out between Cincinnati City Council members and Hamilton County commissioners. "It's a place where families could go," said architect Michael Graves, or 56l 'onio Risin9 13 I A i i. BY MEGHAN HENTERLY The Cincinnati Enquirer INDIANAPOLIS State gaming licenses were awarded Friday to a company in bankruptcy that wants to put a riverboat casino in Rising Sun, and to Argosy Gaming which plans to tie a similar boat up at Lawrenceburg. Rising Sun residents erupted in applause and blew noise-makers when the unanimous decision was made Fri 3agh Switzerland il Vevay who lauded the extraordinary location on the river." The $540 million stadiums and how to pay for them have been the subject of intense deal-making during the past two weeks among elected officials, business leaders and Inslds Deal makes allies of school supporters, anti-tax voters, A8 4 i I.1S&3 Rising Sun celebrates with sirens, cheers, flashing lights, B1 day at an Indianapolis hotel where the Indiana Gaming Commission met.

The group of about 70 immediately threw on T-shirts that read "Rising Sun First." Some handed out cigars to the crowd of about 400 that 1. The Cincinnati EnquirerGary Landers Mike Brown, all smiles Friday, said he decision "felt pretty good." Brown: Goodbye note ready if vote was no read "It's a boat!" "We had our doubts," city attorney Lane Siekman said. "I feel like I've been on the top hill of a roller coaster for the last few days." The company, American Gaming and Entertainment has full financial backing from Hyatt Hotels for the $102 million complex. The company plans to build a 200-room hotel, 50-slip marina and an outdoor arena on 150 acres three blocks east of downtown. The company says it will employ 1,200 people in Rising Sun.

The West Atlantic City-based company said it would lease the land from owners Arnold Detmer and Roy Turner. educators. The final deal was OK'd in a 5-4 vote late Thursday by city council and in a 2-0 Friday morning vote by county commissioners. It includes a one-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax increase to raise $100 million a year, but now hinges on clearing opposition from anti-tax groups. A preliminary design for the stadiums was unveiled Friday by Graves, an internationally renowned architect hired by the Regional Stadium Task Force.

Graves, a University of Cincinnati alumnus, designed the school's new $36.5 million Engineering Research Center. Like new ballparks in Baltimore, Cleveland and Denver, the Reds' ballpark would tuck seats closely around the field, creating an intimate atmosphere. The walls of both stadiums would be red, orange and yellow brick, which Graves thinks would be reminiscent of traditional Cincinnati architecture. The design would also echo the masonry and steel of the neighboring Roebling (Please see STADIUM, Page A8) Rising Sun Operator: American Gaming and Entertainment Corp. Based in Atlantic City, N.J., the company is currently in Chapter 1 1 bankruptcy.

An independent auditors' report included in last year's financial statements said "the Company is experi-enceing significant difficulty in generating sufficient cash flow to meet its obligations and sustain its operations, which raises substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern." The company's stock closed at 81 cents Friday, up 1 9 cents. That's down 84 percent from its 52-week high of $5.50 last July. Proposal: Boat: 1,900 gaming positions on a 2,500 person capacity boat. Location: Three blocks east of downtown Rising Sun on 1 50 riverfront acres. Accommodations: A 200 room hotel, 50 slip marina, outdoor arena and an 1 8-hole golf course.

Lawrenceburg Operator: Argosy ConsecoCentaur, a joint venture of three Indiana based companies. Argosy's stock jumped $1 .50 a share Friday to $12,8712 that after the shares had fallen from $14 on Tuesday amid reports Argosy wasn't expected to win the bid in Lawrenceburg. The company was one of Lawrenceburg City Council's preferred picks and received a private endorsement, the propriety of which was questioned by the gaming commission, from Lawrenceburg Mayor Donald Combs. Proposal: Boat: 3,000 gaming position riverboat. Location: 7.2 acres just east of downtown Lawrenceburg on Canal Street.

Accommodations: A 300-room hotel and parking garage. day, Cincinnati City Council voted 5-4 to approve a deal with Hamilton County to finance new riverfront stadiums for the Reds and Bengals through a one-cent-a-dollar increase in the sales tax. By Friday afternoon, Brown's demeanor had changed and he took out an advertisement in The Enquirer thanking council, county commissioners and the people of Cincinnati. "We have tested your patience," Brown's ad said. "But without your steadfast support producing a (Please see BROWN, Page A8) BY HOWARD WILKINSON The Cincinnati Enquirer Bengals President Mike Brown had a simple, two-line statement ready for release late Thursday had the stadium vote gone the other way: Thanks for your support.

Goodbye. "If it were not for what happened last night at City Hall, it would have been dead iri the water," Brown told reporters at a news conference Friday at the Bengals' Riverfront Stadium offices. "We would have been gone." At the stroke of midnight Thurs it lint 1 Aft- An early view Here are some highlights of a preliminary design for the stadiums unveiled Friday. No commitment has been made. Both would have walls of red, orange and yellow brick, and the In Chapter 11 When asked if he knew the company is in Chapter 11 under the U.S.

Bankruptcy Code, commission chairman Alan Klineman said, "That didn't come through in any of the information we looked at. As we indicated, we're looking more at Hyatt." An Enquirer investigative series earlier this week reported that the gaming commission in its almost two years of operation has often based its licensing decisions more on favoritism than financial analysis. One member quit the commission earlier this year in frustration over a decision to grant a license to a company in Evansville that he thought was financially overextended. Industry analysts have criticized Rising Sun as a casino site, saying the rural county 35 miles down the Ohio River from Cincinnati is too far from a market base to be successful. That Lawrenceburg is 10 miles closer to Cincinnati and is on the interstate highway system and 15 minutes from Greater CincinnatiNorthern Kentucky International Airport also puts Rising Sun at a disadvantage, analysts said before Friday's meeting.

i- design would echo the masonry and neighboring Roebling 5us- -V- pension Bridge. i Names of famous Reds and Bengals stadiums. The park in rU't ty'F Jould ring the outside of the Bench and a plaza r- i 4.V tne center would De named for Johnny CJ: jtH 1' a would be named for Tony Perez. Construction could "That market (Ohio County) isn't competitive. That's why Lawrenceburg has generated so much interest," Bruce Turner, a gaming analyst with Salomon Brothers, said (Please see CASINOS, Page A6) begin in a year to 1 8 months and take 30 to 36 months.

The baseball stadium is tentatively first. WEATHER Citicorp wants to grow, may add jobs locally How nice 1-75 at Dixie Hwy. will lose its curve Project will cost Fort Mitchell homes 1 High 77 Low 55" A cooling-off period: milder highs and a break from the afternoon-showers routine. Partly cloudy today, clear tonight and sunny Sunday. Unabomber puts press on the spot Editors of the New York Tj'wesandthe Washington Post were deliberating Friday over an ethical dilemma: The Unabomber is demanding that they publish his manifesto and three follow-ups or he will kill again.

Story, A2 911 tape: 'I beat my wife' Jurors in the murder trial of Charles Henry Orr listened Friday to a tape of a 911 call to police. In it, Orr asks for an ambulance, saying: "I beat my wife. I hit her with my fist." He has pleaded not guilty. Story, Bl Details, back page this section INDEX Four sections, 155th year, No.83 Copyright 1995, The Cincinnati Enquirer building in Boone County, that would suggest an expansion of several hundred jobs. Tulloch said he did not know how many people might be hired.

Citicorp officials were unavailable for comment. The Boone County office, in Corporex's Circleport industrial park east of the airport, is a credit-card payments collection center. Galbreath has assembled a list of about 25 sites in Greater Cincinnati, which is being pared to four or five sites, Tulloch said. Citicorp would like to be in a new building in two years, he said. Real estate sources said Citi- (Please see CITICORP, Page A6) BY PATRICK CROWLEY and JOHN J.

BYCZKOWSKI The Cincinnati Enquirer Citicorp is looking to expand its local operations, potentially adding several hundred jobs to its local credit-card service center, The Enquirer has learned. Galbreath Co. is helping Citicorp search for a site. Jeffrey Tulloch, Galbreath executive vice president, said Citicorp was looking for a site to accommodate a building about the size of a standard Kmart with room to expand to 200,000 square feet. Such a site would be at least 20 acres, he said.

Because Citicorp today employs about 700 people in a moving dirt, traffic problems are bound to follow. More than 20 homes in Fort Mitchell as well as the Executive 75 office building likely will be demolished as the interchange is reconfigured into a diamond shape and the interstate is rebuilt, said city administrator Bill Goetz. Goetz was disappointed with the decision, saying it would come as a blow to residents as well as city coffers, costing an estimated $20,000 loss each year in property and business tax revenue. But Goetz acknowledged that the stretch of highway and the (Please see CURVE, Page A8) BY KRISTI D. YOUNG The Cincinnati Enquirer FORT MITCHELL The Interstate 75 interchange at Dixie Highway will be rebuilt and a dangerous 'S' curve to its west straightened under a $20.5 million plan.

"This alignment provides a straighter roadway, horizontal with 1-75, and allows an interchange to be designed and constructed with better overall traveling conditions," Kentucky Transportation Secretary Don C. Kelly announced Friday. Construction is planned for spring 1997. Once bulldozers begin Abby C2 Obituaries B4 Business B7 People C2 Comics C13 Puzzles C12 Editorials A10 Sports Dl HealthScience A5 Stocks B6.8-9 Lotteries A12 Tempo CI Metro B1 TV C7 NationWorld A2-5 Wheels El Classified D6-12, E2-22 i.