Hard Rock International isn’t the only competitor for a casino in Rockford, Illinois. Last month, the brand proposed a casino at the former Clock Tower Resort downtown; recently, two other groups floated proposals for a downtown casino.
The deadline for submitting casino license applications to the city is Friday, August 16. A public hearing is scheduled on September 23, after which City Council will forward one or more recommendations to the Illinois Gaming Board in late October.
Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara said no formal proposals have been submitted or selected as yet.
Wisconsin-based Gorman & Company Inc. Chairman Gary Gorman said the company is in talks with five casino operators to develop a riverfront casino on 13 acres south of the downtown Embassy Suites Hotel and Rockford Conference Center. Gorman said the company has an option under contract to purchase the property to develop a casino and entertainment complex. Pedestrian walkways would connect to a train station bringing thousands of visitors from the Chicago area.
Gorman said, “There are all kinds of academic data that show that casinos are most successful when part of an integrated entertainment, restaurant and activity district, creating a critical mass. They are less successful when they are out on an island.”
Gorman acknowledged that Hard Rock is formidable competition. But he said besides location, the city must consider job creation plus “a synergy offered by a riverfront casino near a downtown hotel” and the state’s capital plan which includes re-establishing train service between Rockford and Chicago. “It’s important to look at the macro-economic picture in terms of what this casino will do for the city. We can make a compelling case that a downtown casino as part of an overall entertainment and restaurant complex will do more for the city than something out on the highway.”
The Rock River West Casino Group’s proposed downtown casino also would be located near the anticipated new train station. Spokeswoman Stacy Bernardi said the proposed development would add to the atmosphere of the downtown at the Waterpower District. “This new entertainment district will enrich our community while supporting the entire downtown destination. We envision that this project location can definitively grow more entertainment events for the BMO Harris Bank Center, Coronado Theater and Davis Park with existing and added restaurants, existing and new retail and new entertainment attractions in and around the South Main Corridor and the overall River District.”
State Senator Dave Syverson, representing Rockford, has long supported a casino near the I-90 corridor. He said the city would lose millions of dollars if a casino were located downtown, adding that planners should pick a site that will maximize gaming and tax revenue. “Casinos are destination points where people go and they game, they eat at the facility, they get back in their cars and they go,” Syverson said.
