Has Illinois changed its law requiring casinos to be "on the water"? I see where Boyd Gaming, owners of the Par-A-Dice riverboat casino and hotel in East Peoria, have purchased the adjacent Hampton Inn and rebranded it "Par-A-Dice Inn." Does this signal relocating the existing casino onto the footprints of two current parking lots given that the Hampton provides them with not only more hotel rooms but parking spaces to replace those which are being lost?
No, Par-A-Dice will remain water-borne. “As we wish to stay at our current location in East Peoria (which is currently home to two hotels, meeting space, and several restaurants), our proposed expansion will be a water-based facility,” explains Boyd Gaming spokesman David Strow.
The Illinois on-water requirement, however, was rescinded in 2019, under the auspices of Public Act 101-003. For a nominal fee of $250,000, casinos can move ashore. Section 10/7(k) of the Illinois Gambling Act would permit Boyd and others to “conduct land-based gambling operations upon approval by the Board (Illinois Gaming Board) and payment of a fee of $250,000, which shall be deposited into the State Gaming Fund.”
Continues Strow, “Our decision to build a water-based facility has to do with an intergovernmental agreement between the cities of Peoria and East Peoria. The agreement (entered into by the cities in the 1990s) states that East Peoria has the right to host a riverboat casino, while Peoria would have the right to host a land-based casino.”
Since not going ashore is thriftier and consumes less dry land, that's how Boyd is playing the Par-A-Dice.
