{"id":163673,"date":"2021-02-06T21:37:26","date_gmt":"2021-02-07T05:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=163673"},"modified":"2021-02-06T22:10:10","modified_gmt":"2021-02-07T06:10:10","slug":"pritzker-officials-excited-as-igb-moves-rockford-casino-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pritzker-officials-excited-as-igb-moves-rockford-casino-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Pritzker, Illinois Officials Excited as Gaming Board Moves Rockford Casino Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

One day after the Illinois Gaming Board gave preliminary approval for a Hard Rock Casino to be built in Rockford, Gov. JB Pritzker (D) offered his congratulations to the city and the backers of the proposed $310 million development.<\/p>\n

\"Pritzker
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (right) talks with staffers at a vaccination clinic in a Rockford high school on Friday. At a press conference at the site, Pritzker congratulated the city on getting preliminary approval for a casino from the Illinois Gaming Board. (Image: GovPritzker\/Twitter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While in the Northern Illinois community for a COVID vaccine press conference Friday, Pritzker acknowledged the work Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara (D) did behind the scenes, especially in the past year. The governor said he\u2019s talked with the mayor numerous times over the course of the year, and Pritzker said that during every conversation the topic\u2019s been discussed.<\/p>\n

There couldn\u2019t be a better time to spur new jobs and economic development for this region, as well as for the state of Illinois,\u201d the governor said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The IGB\u2019s action means that construction will be able to start on the project. However, city leaders weren\u2019t exactly sure when that work would start.<\/p>\n

Rockford is the first community to get preliminary approval for a standalone casino license that was created as part of the 2019 expanded gaming law. Other casinos are slated for downtown Chicago, Danville, Chicago\u2019s south suburbs, and Williamson County.<\/p>\n

Work is underway on adding casinos to two racetracks in the state.<\/p>\n

Investigation Leads to Questions, But No Evidence So Far<\/h2>\n

The IGB gave its approval even though a key investor in the project has another company that\u2019s currently being investigated<\/a> by the agency.<\/p>\n

Dan Fischer is the managing partner for 815 Entertainment. He also happens to own a chain of gaming cafes. That company remains under investigation after questions were raised about its acquisition of another chain\u2019s properties. Under terms of the agreement, Fischer paid $2 million while a gaming terminal vendor paid $44 million.<\/p>\n

Illinois state law prohibits gaming machine vendors from also owning establishments that host them.<\/p>\n

A Fischer spokesperson told the Chicago Tribune<\/a><\/em> that the Rockford team looks forward to meeting with IGB staff to answer \u201cany questions\u201d as the project continues through the approval process.<\/p>\n

\n

Stakeholders presented their casino plans to the board at a Jan. 27 meeting. On Thursday morning, IGB board members met in closed session to discuss the project. They then reconvened that afternoon for a brief session to unanimously give its initial approval. There was no discussion about the investigation in open session.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Board Chairman Charles Schmadeke said he had some questions about relationships, but noted there was no evidence.<\/p>\n

Senator Expects Final Approval for Casino “Shortly”<\/h2>\n

Pritzker isn\u2019t the only official excited about seeing the casino project move forward in the second-largest city in Illinois<\/a>. McNamara thanked the governor and the local delegation representing Rockford in the state legislature for their work.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) said it’s taken 20 years to get a casino for Rockford. He thanked McNamara, city staff, Fischer, and Hard Rock International for their work. He added that some criticized the plan for the city to pick an applicant and present that to the IGB. However, those communities that have offered state regulators multiple proposals are still waiting to get heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile today’s action is not final approval, it does allow Hard Rock to move forward with and for us to get the temporary casino up and running,\u201d<\/strong> said Sen. Syverson, a cosponsor of the expanded gaming bill. \u201cI am confident because of the great work done at the front end of this process, the final approval will come shortly. This is a huge win for Rockford and the region.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Developers will build the casino at the city\u2019s former Clock Tower Resort, just off Interstates 39 and 90. It will employ up to 1,000 people. It will also provide up to 1,200 construction jobs leading up to the venue\u2019s grand opening.<\/p>\n

Once open, the facility will contain a 65,000-square-foot casino, as well as a 1,600-seat auditorium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One day after the Illinois Gaming Board gave preliminary approval for a Hard Rock Casino to be built in Rockford, Gov. JB Pritzker (D) offered his congratulations to the city and the backers of the proposed $310 million development. While in the Northern Illinois community for a COVID vaccine press conference Friday, Pritzker acknowledged the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":163674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33810,60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPritzker, Officials Excited as IGB Moves Rockford Casino Forward<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rockford is the first Illinois community to get preliminary approval for a standalone casino license as part of the 2019 expanded gaming law.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pritzker-officials-excited-as-igb-moves-rockford-casino-forward\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pritzker, Officials Excited as IGB Moves Rockford Casino Forward\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rockford is the first Illinois community to get preliminary approval for a standalone casino license as part of the 2019 expanded gaming law.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pritzker-officials-excited-as-igb-moves-rockford-casino-forward\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-07T05:37:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-07T06:10:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/EtgF3XxXUAE2W02.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2023\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1474\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pritzker-officials-excited-as-igb-moves-rockford-casino-forward\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pritzker-officials-excited-as-igb-moves-rockford-casino-forward\/\",\"name\":\"Pritzker, Officials Excited as IGB Moves Rockford Casino Forward\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pritzker-officials-excited-as-igb-moves-rockford-casino-forward\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pritzker-officials-excited-as-igb-moves-rockford-casino-forward\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/EtgF3XxXUAE2W02.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-07T05:37:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-07T06:10:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2\"},\"description\":\"Rockford is the first Illinois community to get preliminary approval for a standalone casino license as part of the 2019 expanded gaming law.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pritzker-officials-excited-as-igb-moves-rockford-casino-forward\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pritzker-officials-excited-as-igb-moves-rockford-casino-forward\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pritzker-officials-excited-as-igb-moves-rockford-casino-forward\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/EtgF3XxXUAE2W02.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/EtgF3XxXUAE2W02.jpg\",\"width\":2023,\"height\":1474,\"caption\":\"Illinois Gov. 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