Finally, the Illinois Gaming Board has Rockford on its meeting agenda for this Thursday.

It's been a long strange trip. After years of pursuing a casino in Rockford, the impossible dream came true. Now, we are just waiting for the final approval so it can move forward.

The pace has been varied throughout the whole process. It took forever for Rockford to even be considered. Then more licenses were added. Then, it was fast and furious. So much so, Vin Diesel would have been proud.

The Forest City was included in the list of new locations for a casino. Interested parties stepped up with bids. The winner was announced. That was the Hard Rock Casino. Many people in Rockford were excited. It appeared that we were on our way to get this new huge attraction and moneymaker for our community.

When looking back, it was like the snap of a finger. From then on, it's been waiting and waiting and waiting. Cue the Tom Petty song... "The waiting is the hardest part."

I remember thinking, let's break ground now. Unfortunately, we weren't done yet. There was another step. They had to give a presentation to the Illinois Gaming Board for approval. The way it was going, that seemed like a no brainer. The Hard Rock Casino would be coming very soon.

Well, then we all heard the bad news. The state gaming board has a year to give the last okay to the project. Well, the year anniversary is coming on October 28th. We have been waiting patiently with no update. Well, until now.

According to wrex.com,

"After almost a year of waiting, Rockford's casino is finally on an Illinois Gaming Board agenda. The Illinois Gaming Board scheduled a special meeting for Thursday at 10 a.m., one day after the 365-day deadline to make a decision on the Hard Rock Casino. By law, the IGB has a year from when the license application was sent to the gaming board, which happened on October 28, 2019." 

Let's hope it gets done this week and they don't try pulling any political junk. Of course, this is Illinois so I'm not going to hold my breath.


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