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Journal Star reporter JJ Bullock writes about native authorities, politics and enterprise in and round Peoria.
- The Illinois Gaming Board has accepted Boyd Gaming’s plan to construct a brand new on line casino on a barge in East Peoria.
- This choice ends a dispute between the cities of Peoria and East Peoria over the on line casino’s location.
- Peoria had argued a 1991 settlement required any new land-based on line casino to be constructed on its aspect of the river.
- Boyd Gaming shifted to the barge plan after Peoria filed a lawsuit towards its unique proposal for a land-based facility.
(This story was up to date so as to add new data.)
Boyd Gaming will assemble its new on line casino on a barge in East Peoria following state approval for the challenge Thursday, ending months of controversy and a battle between Peoria and East Peoria.
The Illinois Gaming Board unanimously accepted Boyd Gaming’s plans to construct its $160 million alternative for the Par-A-Dice Casino riverboat on a barge sitting on the Illinois River.
An legal professional for town of Peoria, John Kennedy, mentioned Thursday earlier than the vote that the gaming board ought to require Boyd Gaming to construct a land-based on line casino in Peoria. He additionally took purpose at Boyd by saying it “never seriously considered” leaving East Peoria regardless of the existence of a 1991 intergovernmental settlement requiring any land-based operations to be in Peoria.
Kennedy, too, mentioned Boyd didn’t wish to depart East Peoria as a result of it didn’t wish to construct a brand new lodge.
Peoria Mayor Rita Ali referred to as Peoria’s rejection of a settlement supply from Boyd a “missed opportunity” and informed the Journal Star that Peoria should stay with this new plan.
“We missed our opportunity to settle with Boyd Gaming so we must live with this new reality,” Ali mentioned in a press release. “On the positive side, our region will have a new Par-A-Dice Casino with better amenities and increased revenue split between Peoria and East Peoria.”
Peoria and East Peoria have for many years break up on line casino gaming income 50/50.
East Peoria Mayor John Kahl took a victory lap on Facebook following the choice.
“The City of East Peoria is pleased that Boyd Gaming has made the decision to invest $160 million dollars to upgrade its casino operations here in East Peoria and that the Illinois Gaming Board has given its final approval of Boyd’s redevelopment plan,” Kahl mentioned on Facebook. “East Peoria has never wavered in its support of Boyd Gaming, and as a private business, its rightful desire and decision to locate where it chooses and to spend its capital how it chooses. We have a tremendous amount of respect and appreciation for those employed by the Par-A-Dice and share in their excitement to finally see this project moving forward.”
Boyd Gaming, in a transfer that stunned legal professionals for town of Peoria, shortly pivoted to plans to construct its new on line casino on a barge after Peoria filed a authorized problem towards its unique plans to construct a 29,000-square-foot constructing on land within the car parking zone of the present on line casino property.
Peoria dropped its lawsuit after Boyd unveiled its plans to maneuver forward with a barge facility, paving the best way for a comparatively clean approval course of at Thursday’s gaming board assembly.
City Manager Patrick Urich deferred remark Thursday to the legal professional’s assertion made on the gaming board assembly.
History of Par-A-Dice Casino sparked lengthy battle over future
Plans to construct a brand new on line casino in East Peoria ignited a years-long feud between Peoria and East Peoria, every of which contented the brand new on line casino facility belonged on their aspect of the Illinois River.
Peoria hitched its argument to a 1991 intergovernmental settlement, which was codified by state lawmakers in 2019, that dictated any land-based on line casino constructed within the space needed to be on Peoria’s aspect of the river.
Peoria argued in a lawsuit that Boyd’s plans to construct a 29,000-square foot-building within the car parking zone of the present Par-A-Dice Casino lodge constituted a land-based on line casino.
Boyd Gaming supplied Peoria a settlement supply previous to the lawsuit being filed which might have seen town paid an estimated $1.8 million a yr if Peoria dropped its objections to the plans.
Peoria’s City Council declined the settlement supply in a 5-5 break up vote. Ali and councilmembers Mike Vespa, Bernice Gordon-Young, Andre Allen and Denise Jackson voted to approve the settlement. Councilmembers Tim Riggenbach, Zach Oyler, John Kelly, Kiran Velpula and Alex Carmona voted to say no the settlement. The metropolis as a substitute moved ahead with the lawsuit, prompting Boyd Gaming to shortly pivot to the barge plans.
In response to Peoria’s objections to the unique Par-A-Dice plan and lawsuit, East Peoria in flip threatened to sue Peoria over video gaming terminal revenues, including yet one more bitter chapter to the feud between the cities.
The battle between Peoria and East Peoria over the way forward for the on line casino started in the summertime 2024 when Ali and Kahl exchanged tense emails through which Kahl informed Ali the looming on line casino feud might threaten to “forever strain” the connection.
Over the course of months, the cities continued to trade barbs by way of e-mail and formal letters over the way forward for the on line casino. Yet, Ali informed the Journal Star earlier this yr that the connection between herself and Kahl stays cordial.
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