Officials at the Hard Rock Casino in Rockford, Illinois said the facility will be open by Labor Day, September 2.
Geno Iafrate, president at Hard Rock Casino Rockford, told WKOW, “You know, these guys didn’t stop. I think we maybe had one or two days where we were impacted on weather, but we were pouring concrete outside in the middle of December in Northern Illinois. When has that ever happened?”
A 90-foot replica of Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen’s famed checkerboard guitar will greet visitors outside the main entrance. Nielsen, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is an investor in the project.
The $310 million, 180,000-square-foot casino is being built at the site of the former Clock Tower Resort at 7801 E. State Street at the I-90 exit. “It’s way more than just a casino,” Iafrate told WKOW. The 65,000-square-foot casino will offer 1,300 slot machines, 44 table games and a sportsbook with tiered seating for watching games, plus a 6-table poker room.
A 13,000-square-foot entertainment venue connected to the casino will have retractable seating for 1,600 or 2,000 without seats, and also transform into an 800-seat banquet space. The Hard Rock Café also will feature local and regional acts, and the Council Oak steakhouse also will present jazz and blues music, Iafrate said.
The food hall will include YouYu Noodle Bar, Brick’d Oven Pizza, Constant Grind bistro and coffee shop and a taco concept that has yet to be named. The Rock Shop and Unity Store will offer branded merchandise.
Hard Rock officials said the Rockford project has required 1,200 construction workers, and they expect to hire 400 casino employees in addition to those working at the temporary Rockford Casino: A Hard Rock Opening Act at the former Giovanni’s restaurant on Bell School Road.
Iafrate said, “I hope that really when people come in or our guests come in, when we open, that the Hard Rock fulfilled or exceeded all the commitments we made to the community.”
