Is it just me, or does it feel like we have been waiting 10 years for the Hard Rock Casino Rockford to become a reality in our fair city? The land and plans are ready to go, we just don't have the green light to begin building. Could that green light finally be coming tomorrow?!?

The short answer, no. The final approval from the Illinois Gaming Board isn't expected to come on Wednesday, BUT we could be one step closer to the ground-breaking moment so many people have been waiting for according to this Facebook post from City of Rockford;

815 Entertainment is scheduled to make its presentation on Hard Rock Casino Rockford during the Gaming Board’s Wednesday meeting. We expect the topics to include that Hard Rock has satisfied all statutory licensing requirements, its background and reputation, its business competence and experience for purposes of holding an owner's license, and the adequacy and sources of the funding for the proposed casino. This meeting is not expected to result in final approval, but is the next step in the process.

 

If you remember back to when this whole casino approval process started, Rockford was expecting to have the final answer from the Illinois Gaming Board back in October 2020, but like everything else in life, COVID pushed the whole deadline back. No one knows how long it will take for approval following 815 Entertainment's presentation tomorrow, but the City of Rockford post also included a quote from Mayor McNamara that said;

 

“We are confident in our Hard Rock partners and the proposal they have put forth,” says Mayor Tom McNamara. “The road to bringing a Rockford casino has certainly been long, but we are optimistic our proposal will be approved at each step so we can turn our long-awaited vision into reality.”

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