But the combination of new Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who actively supports a casino, and massive state and city budget deficits mean a Chicago casino might finally become reality. Further, it could arrive in the South Loop, as Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd Ward) is already looking at specific locations for a city gambling spot.
Fioretti and other internet sites (among them readers of Sloopin) have suggested that the old post office that straddles Congress Parkway just west of the river would be a great spot. We agree, but it's unfortunate that the city just auctioned this off. Not to say that the city couldn't come to terms with the owner, but it's just ironic that the city sells something and then would want it back.
Lee Bey from WBEZ thinks the McCormick Place East should be the spot for a new casino:
For my money, a city-owned casino should be McCormick Place's Lakeside Center, the 40-year-old modernist convention hall that its owner, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, says is under-used, headed toward obsolescence, needs a $150 million renovation and costs $10 million a year just to operate. It will bring a money-making use to the building that will allow it to maintain itself. And at 580,000 square feet, the building is a bit undersized by convention standards, but would be among the largest casinos on the planet in terms of terms of sheer gaming space, placing it in league with the 546,000 sq ft of gaming halls at China's Venetian Macau--currently the world's largest. Its size could make this country's largest casino--Las Vegas' 170,000 ft MGM Grand--look like a few poker machines in the back of a bar in Lyons by comparison. Then there's Lakeside Center's Arie Crown Theater which can seat 4200 people--large enough to bring big acts to entertain that new audience.
The Chicago Journal article goes on to say that McCormick Place probably won't happen:
Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which runs both McCormick Place and Navy Pier, want no part of a city casino.
"Lakeside Center is definitely not the place for a casino," MPEA Trustee Jim Reilly said in a statement. "Our trade show customers do not want their attendees leaving the show floor during show hours."
Seems like the talk is ramping up...and it seems like the South Loop is the place many around the city think the casino could land. Could be good for business...could be bad for families...
13 comments:
Huh. That fake power plant is actually starting to sound like a good idea now.
Bring it! It would put the S. Loop on the map. Just think of all the options it would bring to our door steps. It's close by but yet remote enough not to interfere with more people living in the S. Loop. It will help the city with revenue propping up the bottom line, while creating more jobs for the bottom feeding unions. Win - win - win!
Just do it right…we have one shot at this!
Bad for families? Jobs and economic development?
The old post office was owned by the USPS and they're the ones who put it up for auction. Never owned by the city.
Just a minor factual correction: It wasn't the city that auctioned off the old post office - it was sold by the US.
Regardless of where the casino goes, I'm still wondering why it has to be city owned. We can't operate our own parking meter system, but we have to run a casino? Huh.
Nor is the old post office a good location. Does Rahm, or any other politician, want to make the entry way into Chicago a gambling parlour? That's would be exactly the case if there were traffic jams going into / out of 290 and the first thing that visitors from out of town saw of the loop was a casino.
It means the front porch is something cluttered with slot machines.
I have a family in the south loop and struggle to see how a casino at say McCormick place would have any negative impact on families
Yes, I could see the argument how the old post office being a casino might convey a negative entryway image, BUT I think some type of destination function is what it should really be. Having it turned into condos might be a better option than having it remain abandoned, but the south loop seems quite saturate with new living units.
First, why does a potential downtown Casino need to be so big?
Why drop so much money in a venture not gauranteed to work?
2nd, Why a gaudy Las Vegas Style casino? Why not a botique casino built into a few floors in a hotel; this is typical of European, and South american major city casinos/
"the first thing that visitors from out of town saw of the loop was a casino."
Pretty sure first thing people will still be seeing is an absolutely incredible and magnificent skyline.
Although I'm with that other dude that I'd rather like to see a few smaller boutique casinos spread around rather than one mega LV style one.
What do you mean when you say "it's just ironic that the city sells something and then would want it back?"
Gambling causes redistribution of wealth. There is gain for the owners and their friends and loss for the rest of us.
I hope the south loop if does get a casino can hire some lawyers and legally ensure that we would get a percentage of the revenue to provide both additional infrastructure and social services for having to manage the additional burdens imposed on the neighborhood. And also ensure proper traffic patterns and passages are constructed. Can you imagine everyday an additional 100 buses and various drunk drivers coming down the historic quite Indiana ave to get to LSD or Roosevelt? Scary for the buildings, pedestrians, and overall street / environment cleanliness.
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