Presta noted the legislation calls for 43 communities to share revenue from a south suburban casino. The gambling-expansion legislation allows six new casino licenses and specifies they must be located in Chicago, Danville, Rockford, the south suburbs, Waukegan and Williamson County. The “racino” must be located within one of seven townships: the six eligible for the casino, plus Orland. What is known is that the legislation specifies the south suburban casino must be located in one of six townships: Bloom, Bremen, Calumet, Rich, Thornton or Worth. “No other town can match the traffic count that we offer,” Ford said. Most of the land is privately owned, though the village owns some of it, he said.Īdvantages of the site are that it is vacant and shovel-ready for development and it offers a prime location near two busy interstates, Ford said. We could easily facilitate a casino there,” Ford said.
It is just west of a 300-acre site where an outlet mall was proposed for many years, and more recently has been announced as the site of a logistics development. The village’s proposed site is near the intersection of interstates 57 and 80, Ford said.
