The Golden Nugget Danville Casino groundbreaking ceremony is set to take place on Tuesday, April 19. The event will take place at 204 Eastgate Drive in Danville but is not open to the public.
Last month, the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) found Danville “preliminarily suitable” for a casino license. Officials expect casino construction to take about 11 months, which means Golden Nugget Danville could open its doors by March 2023.
The casino will feature a 41,500-square-foot gaming floor with 500 slot machines, 14 table games and two restaurants. It will also have a Golden Nugget Sportsbook.
According to the proposal, the casino will create 300 full-time jobs.
Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. estimates that the casino will generate millions of dollars for the local economy.
Sometimes, local officials tend to be overly ambitious when it comes to casino timelines. However, Williams has stayed true to his word thus far.
Here’s what he said about a potential timeline in March:
“What that would mean for Danville is within 45 to 60 days, you would likely be having a groundbreaking. So we could be meeting as soon as April, the end of April to do that. And from there, we would likely have a casino open the early part of 2023.”
With the casino groundbreaking taking place on April 19, Danville is on a good track. And seeing as how a new casino in nearby Terre Haute, Indiana, is also in the works, it’s in Danville’s best interest to open its doors sooner rather than later.
Status of other future Illinois casinos
With this groundbreaking news, Danville is in the running to be the next permanent casino in Illinois.
Walker’s Bluff Casino in Williamson County should also launch its permanent facility in early 2023. It will be between those two.
However, there will be a few temporary casinos open before then. Waukegan plans to open its temporary casino in July, while Rockford’s is already operational. Danville will not have a temporary casino, partly due to its relatively quick construction timeline.
However, permanent casinos in Danville and Williamson County are on track to open before the ones in Rockford and Waukegan.
Meanwhile, Wind Creek Casino Homewood/East Hazel Crest plans to open its permanent facility in mid-2023, slightly after Danville.
How about Chicago?
And last but not least, we also have some Chicago casino news.
All three remaining bidders — Hard Rock Chicago, Bally’s Chicago and Rivers 78 — held community meetings this week.
Each group faced public criticism, as residents in the affected neighborhoods aren’t necessarily thrilled about living in the same place as a casino. At any rate, the process will forge on as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot expects to choose a winning bidder by the summer.
The Chicago casino is not expected to open to the public until 2025 at the earliest.
