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The City of Chicago has weighed the idea of building a casino downtown or close to downtown for years now. Significant progress has been made in 2022 with the City Council’s Special Committee on the Chicago Casino, appointed by the Mayor’s administration, approving a proposal by Bally’s to build one on the Chicago River in the River West neighborhood. Although the process to build a casino in Chicago has been relatively streamlined so far, criticisms of the approved proposal loom in the near future, threatening to slow down the progress made so far.
The projected tax revenue the city of Chicago can expect to see from a casino being built is being presented as a much-needed alternative to raising property taxes in order to keep city employees’ pension funds solvent. Developers also claim this project will create up to 3000 jobs during the construction process along with 3000 permanent jobs in the actual casino once it has been built. Many elected officials see building a casino as an ideal substitute to raising taxes, especially with an election looming in the near future.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced she had chosen Bally’s River West Casino Proposal in early May and after less than three weeks and four meetings, the city’s special casino committee comprising of 30 alderpeople voted 27-3 in favor of approving the Bally’s casino. The pace of selecting finalists and the winning bid has been hurried to say the least, undoubtedly due to the urgent need to find a solution to the pension problem without raising taxes.
Bally’s hopes to build a $1.7 billion casino and hotel complex on the corner of Halsted Street and Chicago Avenue, replacing the Tribune Publishing site currently located there. During the construction period, Bally’s plans to operate a temporary casino not too far away at 600 North LaSalle Street. Although the proposal has swiftly been selected as a winner out of the finalists. All 50 members of the city council are scheduled to vote on whether or not to finalize the approval Wednesday, May 25 and the Illinois Gaming Board must finalize the deal afterward.
Critics of the proposal include 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins who was unhappy that the special committee chose a winner instead of the entire city council. Alderman Brendan Reilly, 42nd Ward, expressed his skepticism over the accuracy of the tax revenue projections considering the proposed site of the temporary casino is located in his ward. Reilly also feels that Bally’s was given preferential treatment compared to their competition and that the Mayor’s office took control of the decision process.
Almost 2,000 River North residents responded they were against the building of the casino at the Tribune Publication site and the River North Residents Association sent a 74-page submission to the City Council’s Special Committee on the Chicago Casino stating their opposition. Residents felt unheard when the special committee still approved Bally’s proposal.
Despite the Mayor’s office hastening the decision to choose the finalist in the casino bidding process, they face a major potential roadblock as the choice is taken out of their hands. If the vote among City Council doesn’t go in the favor of Bally’s, the quick approval process will be ground to a halt.
Written by Justin Connor
Edited by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
Block Club Chicago: Chicago Casino Set For Final City Vote Wednesday After Committee OKs Bally’s Plan; by Melody Mercado
Chicago Sun-Times: Casino plan moves forward, but deal still has too many lingering questions
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Friscocali’s Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Tommy Dan Perry’s Flickr Page-Creative Commons License