The corporate ownership of East Peoria’s Par-A-Dice riverboat casino intends to construct a new $160 million gambling venue on the existing property, but the decision isn’t sitting well with some Peoria city leaders who believe the move violates a long-standing intergovernmental agreement.
Nevada-based Boyd Gaming unveiled its redevelopment plans during an initial consideration presentation at Thursday’s meeting of the Illinois Gaming Board. The new facility would expand the gaming space to 29,000 square feet and add a large, modernized ballroom as well as restaurants and meeting space.
Referring to the project as “riverboat modernization,” Boyd proposes to build the new casino above a 1,000-gallon manmade water basin filled with water drawn from the Illinois River.
That raises the question of whether that type of construction qualifies as adhering to Illinois statutory language allowing gambling on rivers within the state. And it tests the limits of a 1991 intergovernmental agreement between Peoria and East Peoria that requires any land-based casino in the region to be built in Peoria.
“I think it's incredibly disingenuous and almost laughable to say that just because you pump water underneath a building, you've suddenly made it not land-based,” Peoria City Council member Zach Oyler said in an interview with WCBU.
“We have plumbing lines underneath every property in the city, and that doesn't make them water-based properties.”
In a statement posted on social media, council member Mike Vespa called the decision “disappointing,” saying it stretches the definition of “riverboat.”
“Where is this ‘modernized riverboat’ planning to travel? Even if soil samples show the land was part of the Illinois River bed in the past, that is no longer the case, by the plain and ordinary meaning of the word,” he wrote.
“Adding water to a former river bed does not make it the Illinois River, even if the water was formerly of the Illinois River.”
Peoria City Manager Patrick Urich said Boyd’s announcement Thursday was the first time the city saw the plans for a new casino, and that it would “take us a little bit of time to digest them.” Mayor Rita Ali declined to comment at this time.
East Peoria Mayor John Kahl similarly is not making any additional comments beyond the thoughts he expressed in a video included in Boyd’s presentation to the state gaming board.
“Both sides of the river have been the recipients of nearly $225 million in gaming revenue since the Par-A-Dice came to town,” Kahl said in his remarks.
A year ago, Peoria hired a financial advisor and outside legal representation in a desire to protect its position and interpretation of the intergovernmental agreement, and pursue a land-based casino in the city. Oyler said it’s too soon to know what Peoria’s next steps may be.
“It's pretty frustrating to see how they're trying to work around a contractual agreement between the two cities that was made 30-plus years ago,” he said.
“We haven’t had a council meeting since the news came out to discuss it, but I imagine that we would continue some type of legal pursuit to deal with the situation, whether that be coming to some type of a settlement to make the city whole. That’s millions of dollars a year in opportunity costs that we’ve lost by that agreement not being followed.”
In his statement, Vespa also noted the potential financial ramifications Boyd’s decision would have on Peoria.
“Peoria and EP [East Peoria] long ago agreed to split gaming revenue 50/50, but everyone knows the benefits of the casino were never truly split down the middle. Sales tax revenue, property tax revenue, jobs, tourist dollars and other ancillary benefits have been enjoyed by EP, not Peoria,” he wrote.
“The 50/50 gaming revenue split was agreed to with the understanding that land-based operations would one day be in Peoria. This was a bargained-for term, and without it having been in the original agreement, the gaming revenue split may not have been 50/50. EP negotiated a revenue split to their benefit and, 30 years later, seem intent on reneging on their one major concession.”
Vespa said Boyd is staking its position based on a precedent of the gaming board’s 2011 ruling to allow a casino in Des Plaines to be built over a shallow pit of water and still be deemed a “riverboat.” He said that ruling was never challenged in court, and the precedent isn’t binding.
An architectural rendering of the new casino facility shows the building being constructed adjacent to the existing Par-A-Dice hotel, on space that is currently a parking lot. The Illinois Gaming Board’s will revisit Boyd’s proposal at the next board meeting on Feb. 5.
“Promises and laws should matter. Common sense should matter,” said Vespa. “We'll see what the Board decides in February and go from there.”
