At a recent meeting of the Rockford, Illinois chamber of commerce, Hard Rock Rockford President Geno Iafrate gave a talk on the past, present and future of the $310 million casino resort expected to open later this year−hopefully. “We are working very closely with the Illinois Gaming Control Board. We’re working as fast as possible,” Iafrate said.
Meanwhile, the temporary casino, A Hard Rock Opening Act, has been operating since November 10 at the former Giovanni’s Restaurant while the permanent, 180,000-square-foot facility is under construction. Iafrate said crews currently are working on foundations, footing and other underground work. “It’s a complex underground process at the moment,” he said.
Iafrate said steel for the future casino is expected to arrive in March. “At that point, you’re going to see stuff change. The goal is to be completely closed in by the end of the summer, and then we start doing the monotonous internal work.”
Changes still are happening at the temporary facility, which currently offers 635 slots. Iafrate said six live table games will be added as soon as the Illinois Gaming Board grants permission; dealers are being trained in blackjack and poker. Sports betting also will be added soon. “We were hoping to have the sportsbook by the end of 2022. It’s taking a little longer than expected,” Iafrate said.
Iafrate said the permanent facility will offer 64,000 square feet of gaming space, seven restaurants, a retail store and a 1m300-seat live entertainment venue. The project will create more than 1,000 part-time and full-time jobs.
A hotel will have to wait, he said, due to supply chain issues and rising prices. “We tried very hard to get the hotel tower in Phase 1. What used to cost $50 million now costs $85 million. So, in Phase 1 we’re just not going to be able to get that hotel built, but it’s going to come as soon as feasibly possible,” Iafrate said.
Meeting attendees got a very brief PowerPoint glimpse at renderings of the future casino before Iafrate removed them, noting the images couldn’t be released yet. He said, “Nobody outside the Hard Rock and our architectural team has seen this.” However, a giant replica of a guitar owned by Rick Nielsen of the rock band Cheap Trick was visible in one of the pictures.
The temporary Hard Rock Rockford generated $53.2 million in gaming revenue and $10.8 million in gambling taxes from nearly 460,000 admissions, Iafrate said. He noted the company has donated more than $275,000 to dozens of local charitable organizations and employees also donate their time cleaning up parks and rivers and doing other volunteer work. “We want to make sure our community is a better place for all of us to live. There’s more work to be done, but I think we’ve done a really good job of making sure we’re a vibrant part of this community.”
