Mayor proposes casino for downtown Chicago

Melanie Coffee

Tuesday, May 11, 2004 | 9:05 a.m.

CHICAGO -- Mayor Richard Daley, who over the years has flip-flopped on the idea of a casino in Chicago, said Monday he's again asking the Legislature to pass a law allowing the city to have its own land-based casino.

Daley said a casino operated by a management company could bring the nation's third-largest city as much as $300 million a year in revenue, with the state getting as much as $700 million a year.

"I understand this is a bold step, and that success is not certain," Daley said. "But in these uncertain economic times, we need to be bold if we're to keep Chicago moving forward."

Chicago would become the largest city in the country with casino gambling if lawmakers approve the plan.

Under the proposal, the casino would employ about 2,500 people and create 1,500 new construction jobs. But opponents say it would not benefit Chicago residents and would drain money from local businesses and the state's nine other casinos.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office would not comment on the proposal Monday and Daley said he hadn't spoken with the governor. Blagojevich campaigned on a promise not to expand gambling, but when Daley floated the idea of a Chicago casino last May, the governor said he would consider the option. Blagojevich later said he would not sign any gambling expansion bills.

Daley's latest proposal will be included in a gambling package Senate Democrats are expected to introduce this week that is aimed at helping to plug the state's $1.7 billion budget deficit. The package also proposes new casinos in Chicago's south suburbs and north of Chicago, said Cindy Davidsmeyer, a spokeswoman for Democratic Senate President Emil Jones, who supports Daley's casino plan.

Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat who heads the House Gaming Committee, also supports Daley's plan. He sponsored a bill last spring to bring a casino to Chicago, but Blagojevich shot down the proposal.

Lang said he hopes Daley's proposal will continue the discussions of using gambling to ease budget woes in the final weeks of the spring legislative session.

"If this is the mayor's game plan and he's going to put the weight of City Hall behind him, then I'm prepared to support him," Lang said.

The mayor's proposal, which comes late in the Legislature's spring session, has no guarantee of becoming reality.

The Illinois Gaming Board recently approved a bid for the state's 10th casino license to a firm that wants to operate a casino near O'Hare International Airport in the suburb of Rosemont. That bid has been the subject of controversy and various plans to expand gambling have come and gone in the Legislature.

The original law allowing gambling in the state created 10 licenses.

If the Legislature decides to give Chicago a casino, Daley said he would form a panel to oversee the selection of the management company. He said the city casino would still be under the authority of the state Gaming Board.

Daley said a city-owned casino would better ensure profit goes to taxpayers and he said revenue is slated to help fund and improve police and fire operations, schools and parks.

Supports say the new casino would attract tourists to Chicago and keep Illinoisans from traveling to nearby states to gamble.

However the Rev. Tom Grey, an anti-gambling activist, contends the casino would attract more Chicago residents than tourists and drain revenue from local businesses.

"Chicago residents are going to lose the money and it is sad to think that the government is reduced to the role of not helping citizens make good decisions as far as how to invest or save their money, but how to lose it," Grey said.

Some casino owners are also wary of Daley's proposal.

Tom Swoik, of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, said riverboat owners in Illinois would be concerned about the 3,000 slot machine and table-game positions that are in Daley's plan. Currently the state has a cap of 1,200 gambling positions for each casino.

"If the city of Chicago can have 3,000 but others in the state couldn't, obviously that's a competitive advantage," Swoik said. "Everybody wants equal treatment."

Daley said he wanted the casino to be located downtown, but did not have any specifics. He said it would not be in a residential neighborhood, at the airports or Northerly Island, the site of the former Meigs Field airport.