Developers press Illinois Gaming Board on Rosemont casino; Rock Island relicensed

James Webb

Tuesday, May 16, 2000 | 3:11 a.m.

CHICAGO - Emerald Casino Inc. asked Illinois regulators Tuesday to let it move forward with its embattled plans to build a gambling barge in suburban Rosemont, which have been stymied by months of legal battling with rival developers.

Joe McQuaid, Emerald's senior vice president, told the Illinois Gaming Board the company wants to appear at the June 20 meeting to seek final approval of the plans, which include transferring the dormant casino license once used at a defunct East Dubuque riverboat to the new operation.

The four board members in attendance sat impassively through McQuaid's brief remarks and asked no questions. After the meeting, Gaming Board Administrator Sergio Acosta said the board was considering a proposal that Emerald hoped would address some of the regulators' concerns, but he declined to offer any specifics.

"Their application has been pending with us since the end of September, so in essence, yes I suppose they're waiting for the board to take some action on their application," Acosta said. "I don't know what the next step is going to be. No final determination has been made by the board."

Emerald's key investors closed the struggling East Dubuque riverboat in 1997 and regulators moved to strip them of their license. Then last year the investors, with help from other gambling interests, persuaded state lawmakers to include a change in gambling laws that essentially required the Gaming Board to let them build a new casino in Rosemont.

But a group of developers known as Lake County Riverboat L.P. sued the Gaming Board in a bid to overturn the amendments and get a chance to win the license for themselves. That has kept regulators from considering the renewal and relocation of the license.

Emerald was trying to build the floating gambling hall during the court fight, but suspended construction earlier this year after the Gaming Board criticized it for moving forward without the regulators' approval. The board has not given any indication when it might act on Emerald's request.

McQuaid noted that other provisions of the revised gambling law, including dockside gambling and dual ownership of casinos, have been allowed despite the court challenge that could overturn all the changes.

"I hope that they're not waiting for the complete resolution (of the court case) because we don't know how long that could take," McQuaid said. "We hope that the Gaming Board would act as they've acted in the past on other issues and that we would have that risk."

The Gaming Board on Tuesday also renewed the gambling license of the Casino Rock Island riverboat, which has begun to improve after years of financial struggles. The one-year license renewal contains restrictions allowing regulators to closely monitor the casino's financial health and business operations.

The casino was in danger of shutting down before dockside gambling returned it to profitability. Now the riverboat is gaining some ground on its two competitors in Iowa, the President Riverboat Casino in Davenport and the Lady Luck Casino in Bettendorf.