NORTHWOOD – Forget the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas.

Farm-style meals and old fashioned slot machines are part of the appeal of the Diamond Jo Casino, which will open at 8 a.m. Thursday in rural Worth County.

Community leaders are hoping the Northwood casino can attract economic development to an area that has suffered in recent years, with a population that has shrunk to less than 8,000 people.

They’re also hoping to lure thousands of Minnesotans across the border.

The casino, which is four miles south of the Iowa-Minnesota line, is projected to draw more than 600,000 guests annually, a majority of which are expected to come from southern Minnesota and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

Minnesota state Sen. Dan Sparks, of Austin, said he had seen the billboards advertising the Diamond Jo throughout southern Minnesota. The casino, he said, could rekindle a debate in Minnesota about allowing casino gambling outside of American Indian lands. Currently, Minnesota only permits tribal casinos.

“There are going to be a lot of dollars flowing from Minnesota into Iowa,” said Sparks, a member of the Democrat-Farmer-Labor Party.

A study done for the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission has shown that more than half of the 20 million gamblers who visit Iowa’s casinos every year are from neighboring states. Diamond Jo is likely to increase that percentage, said Jack Ketterer, the commission’s administrator.

“This isn’t one of Iowa’s larger casinos, but I think they have presented a realistic plan” to be successful, he said.

Diamond Jo will have an agriculture theme – features will include a 170-seat Farmers Feast Cafe and a small-town water tower with a casino sign aimed at luring drivers off of nearby Interstate Highway 35. The casino’s doors will feature golden corn cob handles.

The Diamond Jo is the first Iowa casino to open near the Minnesota border.

Owned by Peninsula Gaming of Dubuque, the Diamond Jo is the first of four newly licensed Iowa casinos to begin operations.