Leaders of Penn and city officials put a lot of those cards on the table Thursday afternoon before the City Council’s Finance Committee. And how will the $50 million the city has promised to finance this project affect taxpayer wallets. And what happens to the garage Penn Entertainment, which owns the casino, now leases. It also deserves answers: Like what’s going to fill in the critical gap left along New York Street after the casino heads to Farnsworth. This casino relocation deserves a lot of attention - from us, from you.

Which brings us to 2022, with all these new economic developments, ribbon-cuttings, groundbreakings and grand openings. Revenue from the casino, in fact, was cut in half from 2007 to 2013, and has continued to diminish as new laws have given way to gambling options that don’t involve getting into a car and making your way to downtown Aurora.įor years there has been talk about getting the casino out of downtown, as Aurora leaders and stakeholders began to envision a totally different identity for this once-maligned city finally finding its groove. Rough economic times, new state laws, competition from slot machines and more modern casinos meant all bets were off when it came to an economic revival.

At the 20th anniversary of Hollywood Casino-Aurora, it was obvious that even though the boats had brought millions of dollars in revenue to Aurora – which, to name a few, helped build the aquatic centers, neighborhood parks, roads and a police substation, not to mention contributed generously to local nonprofits – it could be argued those broken promises continued. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees when it comes to redevelopment. “After 2 decades of broken promises, fantasy plans, forgotten dreams, downtown redevelopment in Aurora is underway,” the subhead went on to proclaim. “Tomorrow is here,” touted headlines on that much-anticipated opening, when local residents and dignitaries climbed onto Hollywood Casino-Aurora’s City of Lights boat to take that first gambling “cruise” on the Fox River. Had it not been for Hollywood Casino, I would never have found myself sitting across a small table from Willie Nelson on his bus after a show, hearing about his wild career. Staff got to do interviews with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Ann-Margret. Then came the star-studded grand opening in June of ‘93.

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