Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell and council member Dale Todd put their shovels down after a groundbreaking ceremony Feb. 7, 2025, for Cedar Crossing Casino in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Casino supporters plan a New Year’s Eve celebration to mark the opening of the forthcoming Cedar Crossing Casino on Dec. 31, 2026.

The date was announced during a groundbreaking ceremony for the new casino on Feb. 7, 2025, attended by nearly 100 guests and onlookers.

“This has been a vision for Cedar Rapids long before I stand before you today,” Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said, citing former council member Justin Shields, who attended the ceremony, as one of the longtime proponents of the casino.

Former Cedar Rapids City Council member Justin Shields is seated during the casino groundbreaking. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

Just the day before, the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission voted 4-1 to grant a gaming license for the $275 million casino.

On a cold morning, the groundbreaking took place on the site of the proposed facility, along Fourth Street NW between F and G avenues, a spot in the 100-year floodplain that was decimated during the record 2008 flood in Cedar Rapids.

The former Cooper’s Mill, which was demolished in 2017 after being flooded both in 2008 and 2016, had been at the site, while homes from a residential neighborhood have also been demolished to make way for the casino in recent weeks. The complex will be built above the flood plain.

See final photos of Cooper’s Mill

O’Donnell said after the ceremony she was unaware that residents of affordable housing were being displaced by the project.

Supporters have touted an estimated $6 million annually that could go to area nonprofit organizations from casino proceeds, as well as 300 jobs the casino would create.

Kim Pang, vice president of development for Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, is shown during the groundbreaking ceremony, at right. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

In an interview after the ceremony, Kim Pang, vice president of development for Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, said it would be at least a year before the casino would be ready to take applications for those positions.

Pang said the jobs will be full time, with benefits.

As a part of the casino, a cultural center and STEM lab, for both children and adults, will have a separate entrance from the casino itself, he said, which will feature 700 slot machines, 22 table games and multiple dining options.

Pang said traveling exhibits are among the possibilities in the cultural center.

While O’Donnell said she had asked if the casino could be smokefree, Pang said that was not in the cards.

“It’s a competitive edge,” he said, noting that other casinos allow smoking in the state and that air handling systems help negate the effects of the smoke.

Read more: Cedar Rapids homes restored after flood demolished for casino and see more from the groundbreaking ceremony, below: