Where would a land-based casino be located in Peoria?
That’s a question the city would like to face. The City of Peoria is asking a judge to stop a Thursday vote by the Illinois Gaming Board on whether to allow a proposed land-based casino in East Peoria.
Peoria officials have acknowledged prior discussions with Boyd Gaming, the parent company of Par-A-Dice Casino, regarding possible land-based sites within Peoria city limits. Those locations had never been mentioned publicly.
However, the city’s 272-page lawsuit filed this week includes slides from a pitch Peoria made to Boyd in early 2020, dubbed “Land-Based Gaming.”
The proposal touts two areas:
Downtown/Peoria Civic Center
City of Peoria website
Three potential locations are listed:
- The Peoria Civic Center.
- The Civic Center parking lot.
- The Madison Block (roughly bordered by North William Kumpf Boulevard, Southwest Monroe Street, Southwest Perry Avenue and Fayette Street).
Northwoods Mall
City of Peoria website
Two potential locations are listed:
- Sears store (currently unoccupied).
- Along Interstate 74.
The slides offer no further information about those sites, nor does the pitch provide any specifics about a casino scope or configuration. However, the slides do list strengths of each area, including hotel space and foot traffic.
Peoria City Manager Patrick Urich said Wednesday that in a 2024 pitch to Boyd, the city proposed only Northwoods Mall. He did not say why the downtown sites were left off that pitch.
As for any further proposals regarding a land-based casino in Peoria, Urich said, “There are a lot of questions to be answered before a casino would come to Peoria. So, it’s too early to say where, with a lengthy legal process ahead.”
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