CHICAGO, Ill. – A decision on the plans for a new Par-A-Dice Casino in East Peoria will have to wait a little bit longer.
The Illinois Gaming Board was scheduled to vote Thursday on Boyd Gaming’s renovation plans that were presented back in December.
The previous proposal in December shows a mostly land-based facility with a water basin running under the casino floor to avoid calling it “land-based.”
The city of Peoria objected to the plans, believing Boyd was attempting to use loopholes to circumvent the 1991 intergovernmental agreement, which stated that any new land-based casino would be located within Peoria.
On Monday, the Peoria City Council did not approve a settlement agreement that would have given the city about $1.8 million annually in revenues from the new casino, in order to avoid litigation. The next day, a suit was filed to try and get a temporary injunction.
Before the scheduled vote on Thursday, Boyd presented a new proposal that would have kept the casino floor floating on water, this time on a barge connected to the current pavilion. Representatives of Boyd say the new plans would satisfy the requirements of the Illinois Gambling Act.
Apart from the casino floor on the barge, Boyd’s renovation plans mostly stayed the same. They announced the renovation cost could be higher than the initially projected $160 million.
East Peoria Mayor John Kahl urged a vote on the proposal to the board, while lawyers representing Peoria wanted more time to review the plans.
The IGB then went into a closed session to discuss the new plans, then came back to announce the tabling of the vote. IGB Chairperson Dionne Hayden says the board has some additional questions about the proposal.
A special meeting by the IGB to vote on the new proposal could come in the next few weeks, with a date to be announced in the next few days.
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