Country Club Hills Removed From Casino License Application List

On May 29, 2007, the Country Club Hills, which has applied for a casino facility since 2002, was ignored by new license bidding under a well received proposal to widen casino gambling activities in Illinois.

The proposal, which could be approved by the Senate state the following day, will offer 4 additional casino licenses to the state. However, they commented that any brand new casino facility in the south suburbs must be located within 8 miles of the Indiana Border.

The Country Club Hills' proposed casino location on 175th Street and Pulaski Road is over 11 miles away from the state border. Previous copies of the gambling expansion proposal stated that a casino should be located east of Interstate 57, which would have covered the site.

Supporters of the Country Club Hills' proposal were surprised to learn of the new statement that day and immediately persuaded local leaders to ratify the language mistake. Country Club Hills Mayor, Dwight Welch, commented that everyone appears to be staying strong and is not happy with what is happening behind the scenes.

Nonetheless, they are already working with the Governor's office as well as the U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s office to make sure that they are included in the choices. But the Illinois Senate's top Democrat is not keen on the new language.

According to Senate President Emil Jones' spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer, Senate President Jones commented that they have to draw the line somewhere and 8 miles is where they have decided to do it. According to Davidsmeyer, Country Club Hills was not deliberately left out, but Senate President Jones is not willing to modify the language for anyone.

Davidsmeyer added that the Senate President has always said that they are losing a lot of business opportunities to Indiana. The main purpose of building a casino close to it is to protect the state of Illinois.

03 June 2007
News Submitted by:
Lauren Desmond

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