Better the riverfront than the lakefront, in my opinion. If you believe their statement, Bally’s wants to make this a signature development, so let’s hope they do it right.
I can imagine water taxis, a small marina, and a nice outdoor boardwalk too. The river is still to polluted for a swim-up Blackjack table, but maybe someday?
- The Real Captain - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:13 pm:
And you thought the addition to soldier field was ugly … hold my beer!
“The town will never be the same. After the vote passed, and it finally was happening, big corporations bid to get a piece. Look at it, it looks like Disneyland. And while the kids head to the lakefront… or Lollapalooza, Mommy and Daddy drop the house payments and the property tax money on the poker slots.
After a few bids got knocked out of the box… special treatment or not… the city wanted a bunch of stuff tore down, practically every area around that riverfront. And where did the money come from to rebuild the neighborhood? It’s not from the parking meters, but maybe from this casino…”
I’m with Ald Brendan Reilly on this — you’ve got one bite of the apple, make sure the location makes sense. Explore South and West side locations, or the McCormick Place, before areas like River North that don’t need economic boosts and are congested.
= The one you linked to appears to be just a close-up=
I think you might need new glasses rich.
To the post:
“Tired of relying on a complicated and slow taxation process for revenue, the city unveiled plans for hundreds of new terminals designed to quickly and efficiently relieve the middle class and working poor of their savings.”
“Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that the money we’re robbing is bein’ robbed? That somebody’s robbing from us? We go through all this trouble, and somebody’s robbin’ us?”
@Rich: I think Wonky Kong’s right. The rendering you shared shows a rectilinear tower, whereas the one at the Sun-Times shows one with a more elliptical cross-section.
Not sure people are going to want to dip their feet in the Chicago River, as in the new rendering, unless they’ve just made a bet on how quickly they can get sick.
I am pretty convinced this site was picked because the other two didn’t have PLA’s in place. I am sure the mayor will be constantly reminding labor of her casino choice while she is scrambling for their endorsements.
Wow, a lot of haters out there. I actually think it looks pretty cool. I do happen to enjoy going to a casino every now and then though.
- thisjustinagain - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:44 pm:
Start the Corruption Clock; there’s a new business coming to town with money. How long before somebody gets indicted by the Feds related to this project?
Hope Bally’s got their projections right, or they’re gonna be losing money in no time on this one.
- lake county democrat - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:54 pm:
“I think I am the Bally table king” - Mayor Lightfoot.
Lori repeated several times today how the revenue from the casino will fund the cities public pensions. The upfront money from the casino went from 25 to 40 million overnight. And not one cent of that windfall has yet been pledged to pay down the cities pension obligations. There’s a potential $40 million windfall here for Chicago’s taxpayers yet the mayor has not yet dedicated one cent of that revenue to the pension funds. Pensions are a promise Mayor. Keep yours.
- NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham - Friday, May 6, 22 @ 8:35 am:
Pat Quinn’s Worst Nightmare (IIRC he didn’t want to expand gaming while Governor, worried that it would cause Illinois to turn into another Vegas).
- fs - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:02 pm:
In a blockbuster move, the City of Chicago has purchased St Louis’ Ballpark Village block, and will retrofit it as a casino in River West.
- Groucho - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:06 pm:
Bet your bottom dollar casino
- DeeLay - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:07 pm:
I liked it better when it was a printing press.
- Lakefront - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:08 pm:
Thereafter, A drive along the riverfront became that much more intolerable
- ;) - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:08 pm:
Bally’s. Really? lol. How much longer do we have of this C-team administration?
- Give Me A Break - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:11 pm:
Rushing to meet design deadlines, Chicago bypasses architecture experts and designers and turns to three guys with a notepad waiting at a CTA station.
They win the design contract which reflects their love of the UN Headquarters in NYC, the Kennedy Center in DC and IKEA in Schaumburg.
- ChicagoBars - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:12 pm:
Meh but City getting $40,000,000 upfront plus $4,000,000 a year plus the gaming tax vig could grow on me.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:13 pm:
Better the riverfront than the lakefront, in my opinion. If you believe their statement, Bally’s wants to make this a signature development, so let’s hope they do it right.
I can imagine water taxis, a small marina, and a nice outdoor boardwalk too. The river is still to polluted for a swim-up Blackjack table, but maybe someday?
- The Real Captain - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:13 pm:
And you thought the addition to soldier field was ugly … hold my beer!
- 47th Ward - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:14 pm:
Sorry, forgot the caption.
“What’s that smell?”
- 47th Ward - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:17 pm:
Hooker Street is a few blocks north of here.
- Ron Burgundy - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:19 pm:
“If you don’t pay your gambling debts in Chicago you end up in the river anyway, so consider this shall we say serendipitous…”
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:19 pm:
“The town will never be the same. After the vote passed, and it finally was happening, big corporations bid to get a piece. Look at it, it looks like Disneyland. And while the kids head to the lakefront… or Lollapalooza, Mommy and Daddy drop the house payments and the property tax money on the poker slots.
After a few bids got knocked out of the box… special treatment or not… the city wanted a bunch of stuff tore down, practically every area around that riverfront. And where did the money come from to rebuild the neighborhood? It’s not from the parking meters, but maybe from this casino…”
- Amalia - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:23 pm:
Lightfoot bets on Bally’s to revere City’s financial flow.
- Amalia - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:24 pm:
oops, reverse….
- Amalia - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:24 pm:
I meant reverse.
- Disappointed - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:25 pm:
Rich, you used an outdated rendering. This is the current one: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/5/5/23058317/chicago-casino-ballys-lightfoot-selection-river-west-tribune-site
- City Guy - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:27 pm:
Time warp: 1970s Las Vegas casino appears in Chicago
- Captain Obvious - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:28 pm:
The race to the bottom intensified today as Chicago bid farewell to Boeing and welcomed a Disneyland of depravity to the riverfront.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:28 pm:
Heart attack claims Blair Kamin, famed architect critic
by Maureen O’Donnell, Sun-Times
- Rich Miller - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:29 pm:
===you used an outdated rendering===
The one you linked to appears to be just a close-up
- Ogle-Lee - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:29 pm:
Less unseemly than Biff Tannen’s Pleasure Paradise Casino Hotel?
- One hand //ing - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:36 pm:
Any other Tribune offices we can get rid of?
- new kid on the block - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:40 pm:
Scientology takes Chicago.
- NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:41 pm:
Eat your heart out, Friends of the Parks
- MisterJayEm - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:42 pm:
“Maxis sets new standard for 1993 with SimCity 2000”
– MrJM
- here we go - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:43 pm:
I’m with Ald Brendan Reilly on this — you’ve got one bite of the apple, make sure the location makes sense. Explore South and West side locations, or the McCormick Place, before areas like River North that don’t need economic boosts and are congested.
- Wonky Kong - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:44 pm:
= The one you linked to appears to be just a close-up=
I think you might need new glasses rich.
To the post:
“Tired of relying on a complicated and slow taxation process for revenue, the city unveiled plans for hundreds of new terminals designed to quickly and efficiently relieve the middle class and working poor of their savings.”
- AnonymousFool - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:50 pm:
This looks like an expensive boondoggle…
- Crash - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:51 pm:
“Chicago Casino: One way or another, you are going to leave everything that was in your wallet here.”
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:56 pm:
“Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that the money we’re robbing is bein’ robbed? That somebody’s robbing from us? We go through all this trouble, and somebody’s robbin’ us?”
- Bally’s, on the new terms of the license
- Just a guy - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:00 pm:
Actually Al, that symbol is in City Hall. I mean if an indictment can say a thousand words, what do four or five - or nine since 2019 - say…
- Al - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:44 pm:
A symbol of moral decay.
- Google Is Your Friend - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:00 pm:
Ace Rothstein’s Homecoming
- Jocko - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:04 pm:
To quote Ralphie (from A Christmas Story), “The soft glow of electric sex”
- Anon221 - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:06 pm:
Le-Go of Your Moneyland opens on the riverfront.
- Rudy’s teeth - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:09 pm:
Wonder if there’ll be a Dome of the Sea in the Chicago casino? A nod to the old days in Vegas and the Dunes.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:20 pm:
Your usual table, Mr. Papagiorgio?
- NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:26 pm:
Can you also build one for Springfield? Maybe build that instead of a sports complex?
- Benjamin - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:26 pm:
@Rich: I think Wonky Kong’s right. The rendering you shared shows a rectilinear tower, whereas the one at the Sun-Times shows one with a more elliptical cross-section.
Not sure people are going to want to dip their feet in the Chicago River, as in the new rendering, unless they’ve just made a bet on how quickly they can get sick.
- Been There - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:27 pm:
“Welcome to the Project Labor Agreement Casino”.
I am pretty convinced this site was picked because the other two didn’t have PLA’s in place. I am sure the mayor will be constantly reminding labor of her casino choice while she is scrambling for their endorsements.
- Manchester - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:35 pm:
And you thought Vegas was tacky.
- Hannibal Lecter - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:36 pm:
Wow, a lot of haters out there. I actually think it looks pretty cool. I do happen to enjoy going to a casino every now and then though.
- thisjustinagain - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:44 pm:
Start the Corruption Clock; there’s a new business coming to town with money. How long before somebody gets indicted by the Feds related to this project?
Hope Bally’s got their projections right, or they’re gonna be losing money in no time on this one.
- lake county democrat - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:54 pm:
“I think I am the Bally table king” - Mayor Lightfoot.
- West Sider - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:56 pm:
The Tribbies final act of cynicism and contempt. Looking at you R. Bruce Dold. You and your editorial board built this.
- Tony DeKalb - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 5:05 pm:
Coming to Chicago: Biff Tannen’s Pleasure Paradise Casino & Hotel
- Bruce( no not him) - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 5:09 pm:
Hey, it’s a casino. Who cares what it looks like?
The good stuff is inside.
- Flapdoodle - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 5:20 pm:
One look and Boeing took flight
- Tear One - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 6:03 pm:
Bally’s Riverfront Affront
- JoanP - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 6:13 pm:
= Who cares what it looks like? =
People who aren’t inside, and have to look at it.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 6:29 pm:
Kayak to the casino.
- In the room - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 8:00 pm:
Lori repeated several times today how the revenue from the casino will fund the cities public pensions. The upfront money from the casino went from 25 to 40 million overnight. And not one cent of that windfall has yet been pledged to pay down the cities pension obligations. There’s a potential $40 million windfall here for Chicago’s taxpayers yet the mayor has not yet dedicated one cent of that revenue to the pension funds. Pensions are a promise Mayor. Keep yours.
- NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham - Friday, May 6, 22 @ 8:35 am:
Pat Quinn’s Worst Nightmare (IIRC he didn’t want to expand gaming while Governor, worried that it would cause Illinois to turn into another Vegas).