Chicago Mayor submits five possible sites for casinos

The Mayor of Chicago announced that the city has submitted five possible sites to host a future casino.

US.- Lori Lightfoot, Chicago mayor, announced this week that the city has submitted five possible sites as the location for a future gambling facility. This is part of the state’s massive gambling expansion approved earlier this year.

Four of the five sites are largely made up of publicly-owned land, REjournals reports. The sites near the Harborside International Golf Center, the former Michael Reese site, erstwhile public housing at Pershing Road and State Street, the South Works site and the lone West Side location.

“While a Chicago casino had been talked about for more than 30 years, today we are moving forward to ensure the new casino is viable for Chicago and all of its communities,” Lightfoot said. “Thanks to our partnership with Governor Pritzker, Speaker Madigan, President Cullerton and other state leaders, together we are advancing a shared vision for new revenues that will benefit Chicago’s severely underfunded pension funds while generating new jobs and economic opportunity for communities across the city.”

It is expected that the locations will be open to community engagement, online surveys and town hall meetings. While the city has already submitted the five locations, it is not certain that one will be picked. The Lightfoot administration considers them “test sites.”

The gambling expansion

The Senate approved last month a huge gambling expansion bill. The legislative piece adds six more casinos and approves legalised sports betting in Illinois.

Senate Bill 690 passed the chamber on a 46-10 vote. The bill had been approved by the House a day before, and Governor J.B. Pritzker had already said he supported the measure. “We worked hard in a bipartisan fashion to pass a budget and to get a massive, important infrastructure bill passed,” Pritzker said.