Watch Now: Public Welcome To Trio Of Community Meetings On Chicago Casino Sites

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include links to live streams of the Chicago Community Engagement meeting.

This week, three community meetings will be held to discuss each proposed location for a Chicago casino.

You can register online to enroll. The schedule for the Chicago game appointments for the week is as follows:

Chicago appointment of Hard Rock

When: 6 – 8 p.m. on April 5.
• Location: Harold Washington Library, 400 State Street.
• Now Streaming: Tune into the Hard Rock Chicago community meeting here

Bally & rsquo, a meeting in Chicago

When: 6 – 8 p.m. on April 6.
• Location: Tribune Publishing Plant, 700 West Chicago Avenue.
• Now Streaming: Tune in to the Bally’s Chicago Community Meeting Here

Rivers 78 coming together

When: 6 to 8 p.m. on April 7.
• Location: Isadore and Sadie Dorin Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Road.
• Now Streaming: View the Rivers 78 Chicago Community Meeting Here

You can also view the meetings online at Chicago.gov/live without needing to preregister for the live stream.

Community members, as expected, have criticized all of the game ideas. An example of this is when the River North Residents Association (RNRA) penned a letter to Aldermen Burnett, Reilly, and Hopkins expressing their opposition to the Bally’s casino.

Byron Sigcho-Locho also opposes Ald. The Rivers 78 plan. Although these games could be advantageous for the city of Chicago as a whole, they could pose challenges for the locals in those regions.

People will have the opportunity to voice their opposition to the casinos at these gatherings, or support them if that aligns with their stance.

The most recent game reports in Chicago

The list of Chicago casino bids, which originally consisted of five, has recently been reduced to three. Rivers Chicago McCormick and Bally’s McCormick Place have been eliminated from the competition.

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, owner of the McCormick Place convention center complex, was not in favor of transforming any of its buildings into a game. This led to the city’s ultimate decision not to go forward with the requests related to McCormick.

This wraps up the previously mentioned three suggestions. Throughout this year, community meetings will be held, with the city aiming to select the victor by the onset of summer.

The successful bidder, along with the city, would then have to apply for a casino license from the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB). However, a Chicago casino may not materialize anytime soon as the IGB approval process could take up to two years.

Why is there local opposition to the game ideas?

While Chicagoans may generally support the construction of casinos in the city, it’s reasonable that residents of certain neighborhoods might oppose having a large gaming hub so close to their homes.

The following is a snippet from the letter by the RNRA:

“The undue stress on the current infrastructure, noise pollution, excessive lighting, traffic jams, and the probable decrease in local property values are all entirely unjust burdens to impose on adjacent residential communities.”

The opposition to other ideas is comparable.

The area may at least choose one of the three offers. For many local Chicagoans, it’s all about dodging the grenade.