Full House Resorts, which will operate the future American Place Casino in Waukegan, is planning to open a temporary casino in July.
The July target date is contingent on approvals from the city of Waukegan and the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB). Full House hopes to open the permanent casino in about two years.
The IGB found Full House “preliminarily suitable” for a license in December. At the same meeting, the board selected Wind Creek Casino Homewood/East Hazel Crest as the winning bid for the south suburban license.
Alex Stolyar, Full House’s senior vice president and chief development officer, told the Chicago Tribune that the temporary casino would be approximately 65,000 square feet.
“It’s like a high-tension tent,” he said. “We’re calling it ‘The Temporary by American Place.’”
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There will be 1,000 slot machines, 50 table games and a sportsbook at the temporary casino if all goes according to plan.
Stolyar also said that they would be hiring hundreds of people to work at the temporary casino. Among the open positions are dealers, slot machine technicians, security personnel, people to handle surveillance, marketing professionals and supervisory personnel.
Once the city and the IGB approve the plans, construction can begin.
We have numbers for the Hard Rock temporary casino
The Hard Rock Rockford temporary casino opened this past fall. And we recently learned how its business is going thus far.
The temporary casino netted about $8.5 million in combined revenue in November and December. Over the two-month span, that was the seventh-highest figure of Illinois’ 11 casinos.
Hard Rock also isn’t allowed to have table games. The temporary site is at the former Giovanni’s Restaurant and Convention Center.
It will be open for up to two years, with the permanent facility likely opening at some point in 2023.
The latest on the Chicago casino
After a flurry of Chicago casino news at the end of 2021, we’ve hit a bit of a lull. But here’s where we stand right now.
The city of Chicago has five proposals to choose from. Bidders presented their cases to the city and the public in mid-December.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said the city hopes to determine a winner in the first quarter of this year, which is between now and the end of March.
Rush Street Gaming and Bally’s are responsible for two bids apiece, while Hard Rock also submitted one.
Once the city chooses a bid, it can work with the operator to submit a proposal to the IGB.
