However, Waukegan officials have patience--they've been discussing casino plans with at least one group for eight years--and they think, an ace in the hole given the board's consideration of a transfer of a license from East Dubuque, IL to Rosemont makes the other nine licenses in the state portable. And one of the other nine licensees--the state has issued all 10 licenses created by law--apparently has wanderlust.

The city has been talking with a casino operator Mayor William F. Durkin declined to name about relocating its license in Waukegan. "They're not losing money, but they're not making the millions of dollars that could be made elsewhere," Durkin says. "And one is very, very interested about coming to Waukegan."

However, the location could prove contentious, as the ultimate site may not be the one most talked about--the city's lakefront, which long ago was prohibited from major development by rail and industrial uses.

"Now that Rosemont can build a boat on a moat, we have other destinations," Durkin says. "Belvidere probably would fit, but we may want it inland a bit." He declined to comment on the possibility of converting the Cleveland-based Richard E. Jacobs Group's Lakehurst Shopping Center, now vacant except for a Carson Pirie Scott store, into a casino. An $800-million mixed-use planned community remains on hold while another developer raises needed equity financing. But Durkin, in his final weeks as mayor, supports considering sites on the western side of the city.

Meanwhile, Ludwig & Co. of Waukegan has an option on land owned by Bank of Waukegan at the end of Belvidere Road at the lakefront, east of the city's struggling Downtown. Previously floated proposals have called for a casino and hotel project worth more than $100 million.

Besides the millions in revenue host cities of casinos have received, Waukegan officials hope gambling in their city will spur economic development in the surrounding area. Besides revitalizing the Downtown area, 4th Ward Alderman Ray Vukovich thinks money could be diverted to rehabilitation of single-family and multi-unit homes in the surrounding neighborhoods.

The lakefront site slopes sharply down to the waterfront, with train tracks between Sheridan Road and Lake Michigan. The top of the bluff would be used for parking, about all it could handle considering city officials admit the land is contaminated.

Vukovich, whose ward includes most of the casino site, says this is the kind of business that could pay for some of the cleanup. Another reason he prefers a lakefront location is additional parking could be located Downtown, "so people are coming through Downtown, maybe on a tram. That way, you don't end up turning the lakefront into a sea of asphalt and concrete."

Regardless of where a casino would land, Waukegan is a poster child for the type of city the state legislature had in mind for casino locations, but the original law required riverfront gaming. That gave three other cities on the suburban fringe, Aurora, Elgin and Joliet, the nod as well as economic boosts. The law has since been changed to include Lake Michigan as well as man-made bodies of water. However, Waukegan not only is competing against Rosemont, but another Lake County community, far northwest suburban resort town Fox Lake. A developer there plans to build a casino on Pistakee Lake, and mounted a legal challenge to the transfer to Rosemont well before the gaming board's vote.

Even if the license once seen as a lock to end up in Rosemont lands in either Fox Lake or Waukegan, Durkin doubts another licensee would relocate in Lake County. "One in Lake County would absorb all the gamblers around here," Durkin said. "I don't think two in Lake County would be feasible."

Durkin thinks plans for a casino would be favored by his city's electorate more than Fox Lake voters would. However, there is at least one skeptic on the City Council in 1st Ward Alderman Ray Cunningham, who along with Vukovich represents the area immediately west of the lakefront casino site.

"Will it improve the quality of life and stimulate the economy? It could be a benefit. I think it has worked in a couple of other cities," Cunningham says. "But the downside is, what has it done for the people who've gone to the boat? There's a lot of questions to be asked before we venture out to that area."

Durkin admits the casino issue won't be resolved on his watch, and it may not be settled until deep into his successor's term. But the city keeps hoping, and as Vukovich adds, "roll the dice." "The field's wide open," Durkin says. "But we've been hoping for it for eight years.

Instant Insights /

City Rolls the Dice on Landing Casino Looking for Greener Pastures

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