“The Chicago & Halsted site is the worst possible place they could put it.” “Bally bought the deal with a $40 million upfront bribe,” observed Mr. That’s a crazy idea because of River North’s traffic congestion. The Bally proposal also promises to utilize union labor and give the city another $4 million a year in additional funds.īally also plans to open a temporary casino in the Medinah Temple building (left) at 600 North Wabash Avenue in the third quarter of 2023. The proposed Bally casino is projected to pump $200 million a year into city coffers when it opens in the first quarter of 2026. With the city drowning in $47 billion in pension fund debt, Mayor Lightfoot is desperate for gambling tax cash. Experts say the choice of the Bally site at the nearly impassable corner of Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street is likely the worst possible location for a successful, money-making casino to bail the city out of its pension debacle.Ģ3-May-22 – Some experts are calling Bally’s River West – the much-ballyhooed site for Chicago’s $1.6 billion gaming extravaganza – Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s “casino-for-dummies.”

Ballys casino downtown chicago