Bottled Water Helps Lead Town To Casino Dollar Freedom

One hundred more jobs are expected to result from construction of a private-label bottled water plant in suburban Riverside. The town mayor says the development could lead to independence from casino income.

There was a ceremonial groundbreaking today, even though two walls of the $36 million, 160 thousand square feet building are standing.

Work on the Premium Waters plant comes with more than $2.4 million in tax incentives from State of Missouri and another million in a Community Development Block Grant to Riverside to make improvements around the  Missouri River bottom land building. It would include streets and sewers.

The land was once farmed by Belgian immigrants from five families who owned hundreds of acres to the south of Missouri Highway 9.

Riverside has relied heavily on casino income for local improvements in past.

Mayor Kathy Rose says it was time for change--“we’re like 70 percent dependent on the Argosy and we don’t want to be in that position forever.  If we get other businesses and other sales tax generators down here, then we’re going to be able to alleviate some of that a bit.”

The plant is set to open in November, hauling tanker truckloads of water from the Ozarks for some of its brands.