Laclede's Lament

At least this time, though, the LLRC has an idea of what it's up against. The redevelopment corporation faced a similar, albeit smaller, challenge in 1994 when the President Casino arrived on the riverfront. Then, merchants and restaurants were giddy as they envisioned thousands of people flocking to the area.

Tom Purcell, then executive director of the LLRC (that position no longer exists), could barely contain his enthusiasm, telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1994: "Gaming will bring back the romance and the excitement of the 19th-century riverfront. People will see the river as they dream of it."

A dozen years later, the President is in bankruptcy and the Landing isn't faring much better.

Says Lois Lobbig of Gibbol's Costumes and Novelties: "People go to the President, lose their money and then go home. They said there was going to be overflow, but some of us could see that it wasn't going to do that."

"The President sucked money out of the Landing," adds Nan Tolen. "We all saw a big difference. They'd stay on the boat and drink, they ate on the boat, went to the gift shops on the boat. That was a big eye-opener."

When Pinnacle Entertainment president Wade Hundley toured the Landing for the first time in late 2003, he offered this assessment: "We thought it was a little tired, maybe a little sleepy, and could certainly use a boost."

Diana Balmori also expressed disappointment.

"The area doesn't feel real somehow," she says. "Rather, it was as if someone had decided to take a little piece of St. Louis and make it an entertainment area. It felt like a false thing. Not old St. Louis or new St. Louis, but something that falls between the cracks, something not capable of attracting a good nightlife. It just didn't seem to work."

Hundley says the Landing isn't yet vibrant enough to attract a critical mass. The entertainment project should help, but he cautions that area businesses will likely realize only a residual spillover from the casino and other planned Pinnacle attractions.

Sundecker's and Mississippi Nights are both on Pinnacle property, and the Las Vegas-based company can evict them when and if the need arises.

Steve Owings, who owns both Sundecker's and the Morgan Street Brewery on Second Street, says he's been in conversations with Pinnacle and let them know that Sundecker's has been around for 21 years. "We're great neighbors and great tenants," he recalls telling company officials. "We'd like to stay there if we could, if it works with their plan."

Even if Pinnacle leaves the two bars alone, they'll still face stiff competition, argues Tim Weber, manager of Mississippi Nights. "Casinos aren't places where old ladies go to spend money anymore. They're the target market for what the Landing does. [Casinos are] packed with people who used to come down to the Landing. You can drink for cheaper, eat for cheaper. It's the exact same demographic."

The LLRC's John Clark may be resigned to the casino's arrival, but that doesn't mean he has to like it. "It's like sleeping with your sister," he grouses.

Says Rich Frame of Mississippi Nights: "Do I think that people will come down here after that casino's open to go to a separate restaurant or show and then walk up to the casino? No. I think the casino will offer it all."

Clark, too, has misgivings about the casino project -- even after assurances from Pinnacle representatives. Still, Clark says, "I'm thinking, there isn't shit that's going on on this riverfront. All the boats are gone. Maybe if we work with these guys instead of completely just saying, 'No, we don't want you here.' Why don't we just work with them? If we can't beat them, we might as well join them."

"A lot of people have asked me if we fear the competition," says Dawne Massey, executive director of the Laclede's Landing Merchants Association. "Anything that brings people downtown and gives St. Louisans more options is good."

Nan Tolen could be speaking of Mayberry when she describes her early years spent running Nan's This 'n That.

"It was my little town," she fondly remembers. "It was a lot of people's little town. We knew who was sick, whose husbands and wives were sick. I couldn't wait to get into the store in the morning. I got to know my customers, and I treated them like family. I ended up a mother figure, and then a grandmother figure."

As one in a long line of merchants, Tolen did research before committing to the area in 1981. She'd sit in her car and study the traffic flow. She canvassed the office buildings, counting people to determine how much soda she'd be able to sell in order to pay the rent. "I made my mind up that I could make a good living there," she says.

Others felt the same, and over the years, the Landing became home to an eclectic blend of craft and curio merchants: a candle shop, flea market, a bridge shop, a crystal company and a business that specialized in eel-skin clothing. Tolen gradually expanded her shop from 300 to 1,300-square feet, even realizing enough profits to open a second business, a deli.