One small Illinois city, Country Club Hills located in Cook County has become the runner in the race which will secure the sole operational license to construct and operate a luxurious casino that is planned for the state of Illinois. According to one report released several days ago by the Chicago Sun-Times news outlet, one of the smallest communities Cook County has revealed that it will be partnering with Spread Group in hopes of being given the necessary permission to bring its casino and hotel to a two hundred-acre land parcel located along Interstate 80.
The same newspaper also revealed that the mayor for this area, James Ford was initially very reluctant to his community planning to enter this race in the first place. As reported, the major declared in one of his official press releases that the community of Cook County had not planned to enter the race for the possible Cook County license mainly due to the area’s close proximity to Tinley Park.
Cook County Reluctant at First
He said that the community’s administration was somehow forced to re-think the previous decision after the state’s Governor Mr. Pritzker said that they would not be selling state property to the village of Tinley Park for the main purpose of constructing an envisioned racino. It was reported that the Governor’s decision came shortly after the name of one of the individuals involved in the racino plan appeared in several corruption-related federal warrants.
This was the move that had blindsided the majority of local developers and led to a chain of events that led to the County Cook administration deciding to enter the contest for the casino license after being reluctant initially. As soon as the racino plan was completely pulled off the table, the county’s administrative officials decided to join the race. At the moment, the state of Illinois serves as home to ten gaming venues while six more casinos are opening their doors soon in the cities of Rockford, Waukegan, Chicago, and Danville.
When it comes to the race for the latter, the competition is rather strong with several powerful communities that have already joined the race including the communities of Matteson, Calumet City, and Lynwood. In the meantime, the communities of East Hazel Crest and Homewood are planning on partnering with Poarch Band of Creek Indians in hopes to construct and run a $275 million-worth casino and hotel.
Important Community Benefits
Opening a new casino is always seen from a number of different angles. Lately, the US public has certainly been more positive to new casino venues, seeing them as important boosters for local economies, creating new job posts and generally improving the financial situation of areas where they’re located and further.
Thus, it comes as no surprise the competition for new casino locations is a fierce one. Whatever area gets to build a new casino will also get to reap many of the benefits that come with such a project, from the initial construction to actually opening and running the casino. So, it will be interesting to see who ends up building a new casino in Illinois and how things will pan out in the end.
