With just five days until its tentative planned opening, a south suburban casino is still awaiting final state approval before it can open its doors to the public.
Wind Creek Hospitality officials said Thursday they still aim to open Monday, though that timeline is contingent on final approval from the Illinois Gaming Board.
“We have to prove that we’re competent casino operators and, if we do, I think we’ll get the green light to open on a date that we want,” said Roger Kuehn, executive vice president and general manager of Wind Creek Chicago Southland. “And my preferred date is 11/11, at 11 o’clock a.m.”
The Gaming Board said in an email officials are working with Wind Creek to complete required pre-opening operations testing, assessments and audits, which include practice gaming sessions to help evaluate the casino’s readiness.
Spokeswoman Beth Kaufman wrote it depends on the casino meeting various regulatory and statutory requirements, and one those are satisfied Gaming Board administrator Marcus Fruchter can issue a temporary operating permit.
Julia Corwin, director of corporate communications for Wind Creek, said a practice gaming session was scheduled for Thursday night.
The casino, at 17300 S. Halsted St., spans 75,000 square feet on property within East Hazel Crest with parking garages on adjacent land in Homewood.
Wind Creek previously estimated the casino would be ready for customers by late summer or early fall of 2023, but delays and higher costs for materials pushed back that opening.
During a tour Thursday of the nearly completed casino, Cathye Amos, Wind Creek Hospitality’s executive director of marketing, said the design draws inspiration from “old Vegas” and aims to create an atmosphere of elegance and sophistication.
The extravagance is evident before entering the gaming area, where visitors are greeted by a multimillion-dollar digital sculpture, one of only two in the United States, Amos said.
“You’re not going to see anything like this,” she said. “We are more than a casino, we are an experience.”
The project was initially budgeted at $529 million, covering land acquisition, construction, and significant license fees Wind Creek will pay to the state to operate the casino. But as of Thursday, Kuehn said he last saw a figure of about $575 million just for construction.
“We’re way over budget,” he said. “Clearly, well over half a billion.”
Wind Creek is a subsidiary of PCI Gaming Authority Inc., which oversees 10 casinos and other gaming properties for the Alabama-based Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
In December 2021, Wind Creek received preliminary approval from the state to build and operate the casino as part of legislation that expanded casino gambling in Illinois. Construction got underway in 2022, and tradespeople were still putting the finishing touches on the place Thursday.
The property also features a 16-story, 252-room hotel with a spa and a steakhouse on the top floor. Kuehn said construction is expected to be completed by January, with plans to open the hotel in February.
Kuehn said the hotel’s design closely mirrors that of the casino, with amenities intended to bring the luxury experiences people typically find in downtown Chicago to the south suburbs.
“It all ties in together, cool, edgy, sophisticated, you know, it’s just Chicago,” Kuehn said. “We wanted to bring that quality here. We’re a lot closer than downtown. So I think we’ll do really well. I think the locals will receive this well.”
The casino has more than 1400 slot machines, and 56 gaming tables, Amos said. Once finished, Kuehn said he estimates the casino will create roughly 1,200 jobs.
Kuehn said they have hired 900 employees, and hope to reach 1,000 during the first phase of opening. He estimates an additional 200 positions will be added to staff the hotel, spa and steakhouse once they open.
Most of the positions were filled by residents in the south and southwest suburbs, with a vast majority living within 10 to 15 miles of the casino, Kuehn said. This past summer, Wind Creek hosted a career fair at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights ahead of its anticipated fall opening, recruiting for a variety of roles, including security, bartending, valet, food service, environmental services, gaming attendants and information technology staff.
Amos said the casino also features spaces for rent throughout the gaming floor, each designed to offer visitors experiences beyond gaming. One such feature is a photo area with a giant chair, called the Oval Room, where a backdrop reads, “Fabulous Meets Its Match.” Another space is designed for private events or special occasions, resembling a more exclusive gaming lounge with a large television.
Other features include a space for live music, a free self-service soda and coffee station in the main gaming area, a sports betting room, high-limit slot area and a dedicated poker lounge.
“Every feature of this project was a strategic decision in what kind of experience we wanted our customers to have,” Amos said. “All the jewels that are in the carpet is part of our marketing. We have what we call our fabulous campaign going on right now, and it’s all about gems. You’ll see some type of gem all around the casino.”
For dining, Wind Creek has an all-inclusive food bazaar with ticket prices set at $25 for lunch and $40 for dinner, said Shane Farzad, director of food and beverage. The bazaar offers a range of cuisine developed in collaboration with celebrity chef Fabio Viviani, including six distinct food concepts: Southern cuisine and barbecue, Mexican, seafood, pizza and pasta, a sweet stand and a grab-and-go sandwich station.
Kuehn said Wind Creek is still working out a transportation plan as they learn more about the communities needs in that regard, but the casino will offer a car service for players.
“If somebody wants a ride and they just have to call us and we’ll arrange transportation for them,” he said. “We’re also doing something pretty unique with our players club, where we’ll pay for their Uber rides if they’re a qualified player. They don’t have to worry about maybe driving when they’ve had a couple of glasses of wine.”
Under state legislation that made the south suburban casino possible, East Hazel Crest and Homewood will share in the casino’s gambling revenue, with a portion also being distributed to 42 other south suburban communities, said state Sen. Bob Rita.
Rita said Homewood and East Hazel Crest will receive a larger share of the revenue because he expects they will need the funds to expand their police forces.
The casino’s main competition comes from casinos in Gary and Hammond, Indiana, Rita said. Now, he hopes Wind Creek will encourage Illinois residents to keep their gambling spending within the state.
“It’s going to be an economic engine, not only the jobs it’s provided for construction, but permanent jobs,” he said.
smoilanen@chicagotribune.com
