Looks Like We’re Waiting 6 Months for Rockford Casino Decision
Rock Rockford supporters had high hopes that today was going to be the day we've been waiting over a year for, the day we learned that our city's casino proposal was accepted, but those high hopes got crushed in a hurry.
The Illinois Gaming Board has a special meeting scheduled for today at 10 a.m., and we know that Rockford's Hard Rock Casino is on the agenda, but the bad news has officially been dealt out earlier than expected. According to mystateline.com;
The Illinois Gaming Board called a special meeting for Thursday morning. it was possible that could be when board members considered Rockford’s application. But late Tuesday, the board told the Hard Rock group that the IGB isn’t ready to make a decision.
It could take six months for that to happen.
I'm just going to say it; this update sucks. I will be the first to admit that I know zero about the application approval process for the Illinois Gaming Board, but I do know they have had a year to figure it out. How can it possibly take that long?!? Sure, it's 2020 and a lot of wrenches have been thrown in the way "normal" is conducted in our lives right now, but come on, they need possibly 6 more months to reach a decision?!? Ridiculous.
To say I'm disappointed is an understatement, and obviously there are hundreds more Rockfordians that feel the same way that I do, including Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara. Mystateline.com received a statement from Mayor McNamara that said in part;
I am very disappointed. I hope it won’t be another 6 months before we have the determination, especially since we have only one applicant unlike other communities that have multiple applications. We believe Hard Rock is working diligently with the IGB to move this process forward. At the City, we too are committed to doing what we can to get this done as expeditiously as possible.
I am not above begging, so if that is what needs to happen to have Rockford's casino application approved, let's get to it. Rockford really needs this win right now.
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