Consolidated has also agreed to provide a strip of riverfront land for development and to establish a commission to oversee its use.

"The city once owned most of the riverfront land at the Cheval Blanc Rapids."

Needing a project to absorb him, he bought the big parcel of riverfront land in 1981, when wild dogs roamed on it.

"Industries held on to the riverfront land figuring someday it would be worth something to somebody," Mayor James E. Brady of Dubuque said.

Some blacks say they believe the mayor, who is himself African-American, wants the riverfront land for redevelopment.

In 1991, the Washington Township Land Trust purchased the run-down mill and 11 acres of riverfront land.

The couple ended up paying only $540,000 for the inn and 10 acres of commercially zoned riverfront land in a town only an hour from midtown Manhattan.

The company has given the development foundation a deadline of Jan. 4 to acquire the riverfront land.

Under the plan, the city sold its riverfront land to the Port Authority for $28 million.

And for this wonderful possibility, a free and clear swath of riverfront land, that seems a good thing.