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A unanimous Peoria City Council moves forward with casino steps

A sign with the Par-A-Dice logo hangs above the canopy over the entrance to the riverboat casino in East Peoria.
Joe Deacon
/
WCBU
The entrance to the riverboat casino in East Peoria.

City leaders want Peoria to be as prepared as possible for the potential of becoming the home to the region’s sole casino operation.

The city council on Tuesday authorized entering service agreements with a financial advisor and outside legal counsel to facilitate development of a land-based gambling facility if Nevada-based Boyd Gaming seeks to shift away from the Par-A-Dice riverboat complex in East Peoria.

“A major casino expansion is a significant financial undertaking, and in order to approach Boyd with the best team and scenarios possible, we felt it very important to retain (an) industry leading investment banking firm to help us with the financial advice,” city attorney Patrick Hayes told the council members during their final meeting of 2024.

The contract with Innovation Capital provides a $10,000 monthly retainer fee and a $250,000 transaction fee if and when a casino development agreement is approved. A legal services contract with John Elias of the Elias, Meginnes & Seghetti law firm calls for hourly billing. The two votes were unanimous, with at-large council member Mike Vespa absent.

Hayes said retention of Innovation Capital was a critical step “to make sure that if we were making proposals on land acquisition, build out other facilities, significant financial operations that take quite a bit of experience, that we would have a team partner that knew exactly what it was doing, and that would express to Boyd that we were taking this opportunity seriously and want it to be successful for all involved.”

Hayes noted Innovation has worked on multiple casino development deals across the country, including in Chicago and the Quad Cities. He said Elias also has vast experience and acumen with Illinois gaming law.

During its March hearing before the Illinois Gaming Board for a four-year license renewal, Boyd indicated it intends to submit plans for a new casino facility project sometime in 2025 or 2026 — with an implication that those plans would focus on land-based gaming operations.

An intergovernmental agreement between Peoria and East Peoria dating back to the early 1990s originally included an even 45% split of casino tax revenues; that split was increased to 50/50 in 1996. The agreement also calls for any future land-based casino to be located in Peoria.

Additionally, a 2019 update of the Illinois Gaming Act signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker included a provision that one of the state’s 16 casino licenses “shall authorize riverboat gambling on the Illinois River in the City of East Peoria or, with Board approval, shall authorize land-based gambling operations anywhere within the corporate limits of the City of Peoria.”

Mayor Rita Ali asked Hayes if he viewed that as a “very explicit” requirement to have any land-based casino facility in Peoria instead of East Peoria.

“Yes, those clauses are not opaque or confusing. They're quite simple, direct and straightforward,” he responded.

Boyd purchased the Par-A-Dice location from a group of local investors in 1996 and has invested more than $20 million in facility improvements over the past five years, including a $9 million upgrade of the hotel.

Hayes said funding for the two service agreements will come from the legal department’s budget for outside counsel. He said the contracts cover an initial six-month term, but will likely remain in place beyond that until it’s clear whether or not there will be a new casino development in Peoria.

“It's our view that this matter should take somewhere between six months to a year to determine the outcome. It may take longer, but that's the best estimate we can provide today,” said Hayes. “One reason that we know that most of that activity will take place during 2025 is that the Boyd and the gaming board have indicated that their facilities expansion plan is due in March of 2026.”

Fire station reconstruction

Also Tuesday, the council voted 10-0 to approve the long-awaited reconstruction of Fire Station 16 at 2105 W. Northmoor Road, accepting a $4.2 million reduced bid from Peoria Metro Construction.

“We’ve been working on this since 2023,” Fire Chief Shawn Sollberger said of the plans to replace Peoria’s oldest station still in service with a modern facility with upgraded technology, including an enhanced alerting system.

“We've already been working with Metro right now. So the anticipation is, once we can secure those permits, we can start work the (beginning) of January and then be in the fire station by the last quarter of 2025,” he said.

The city was awarded a $5 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to demolish the existing facility and build a new one. The city’s Business Enterprise Program Utilization Plan was approved by DCEO last month.

Peoria Metro’s original bid was $4.7 million, but the company worked with city staff and the architects to lower the cost to fit in along with design and engineering costs under the grant amount.

Sollberger said having Station 16 offline until the new facility is ready is “not ideal at all” as far as response times are concerned, but crews are doing their best to maximize resources to keep the call times “where they should be.”

Dispatch center upgrade

A much-needed technology upgrade to Peoria’s computer-aided emergency dispatch system also earned unanimous approval.

Emergency Communications Center Director Brandon Blayney said the current system has been in place since the mid-1980s.

“It’s served us well for many years, but we did feel like it was time to explore all available options to ensure that we had the … software that best meets the needs for all Peoria’s first responders,” said Blayney.

The contract with Tyler Technologies will replace the dispatch and the police records management system.

The agreement comes at an initial cost of $3.7 million for implementation and a three-year service term, with partial funding coming through a federal COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) technology grant. Separate one-year renewal options over four years would bring the overall cost to $7.4 million.

Blayney said the grant funding will cover all 2025 expenses.

“While Peoria Police and Peoria Fire are by far the biggest utilizers of the system, we are working with the user agencies on a cost-sharing structure for 2026 and beyond,” he said.

The new system is expected to address shortcomings with the current system that make it harder for police and fire to respond efficiently to emergency calls.

“This is not a luxury purchase,” council member Chuck Grayeb said in making his motion to approve.

Riverfront restaurant

A new restaurant is coming to the city-owned Powell Press Building along the downtown riverfront that previously housed the Emack & Bolio’s ice cream shop.

The city-owned Powell Press Building on the Peoria Riverfront was originally built in 1852.
City of Peoria
The city-owned Powell Press Building on the Peoria Riverfront was originally built in 1852.

As part of the consent agenda, the council approved a five-year lease with El Mirador En El Rio to operate in the property at 110 NE Water St.

“This is going to be a restaurant, a café that will not only have American, but Mexican cuisine, as well as desserts and beverages and so forth,” Assistant City Manager Kimberly Richardson told WCBU.

“The goal is to keep this business operational throughout the entire year, having a vendor that will be able to be open at least the majority of the week, even during the winter months.”

After the Emack & Bolio lease was terminated in the spring, the city put out a request for proposal (RFP) in July. El Mirador was selected after the interview and scoring process was completed.

Built in 1852, the Powell building is the oldest commercial structure in Peoria. It was originally located in the 200 block of Washington Street before being relocated to the riverfront spot in 1997 and fully renovated in 2010.

Other business

Three items pulled from the consent agenda all resulted in unanimous approval as well, beginning with a $450,000 allocation of Community Development Block Grant funds for upgrades at Columbia Park.

Those upgrades include a new playground, a new shelter with electricity, accessible sidewalks, and various other amenities.

Although he eventually supported the proposal, council member John Kelly expressed concern over repeated financial assistance provided to the Peoria Park District.

“We have more projects, more needs in our city than we can pay for, and yet we're now kind of on a regular basis shipping money off to the park district. I don't think this should be done,” said Kelly, requesting a future policy session to discuss this process.

Ali responded by saying the city assisting the park district is a necessary collaboration.

“Sometimes we have to work together for the benefit of our neighborhoods, and that's what this is about,” she said.

District 1 council member Denise Jackson removed a $1.42 million contract with Knapp Concrete for sidewalk upgrades with ADA ramps in the 61605 zip code to discuss the benefits of the project and to verify the federal grant funding amount secured by former U.S. Rep Cheri Bustos.

“Initially, when (Bustos) approached us, she thought it would be $1 million. She came back and said, ‘I can get more,’ and that amount was $2 million,” said Jackson. “When you talk about concrete work, it is very expensive and the need is so great. I would want to, if we can, if the amount was $2 million, I would hope that we would be able to secure it and use it.”

But Public Works Director Rick Powers said the funding was all that was available.

“The directed amount, that's what the bid went out for was for the congressionally directed amount,” he answered.

Grayeb also called for a separate vote on awarding a $9.6 million contract to United Contractors Midwest for upgrading Moss Avenue between Western and Sheridan, along with an agreement with Illinois American Water to replace the century-old water main.

“This is another one of these legacy projects that we have been able to execute here in our city with the funds that we have received (as) part of the Rebuild America infrastructure act,” said Grayeb.

“If you drive along Moss Avenue after a good rain, it would appear to be ‘Moss Avenue Lake.’ One block after the next, standing water, you name it. And ongoing pipe leaks that seem to go on forever not being repaired. I think Counselor Jackson and I are thrilled that this project is going to be underway in earnest in the spring.”

Among other items approved on a lengthy consent agenda were:

  • An agreement with JIMAX Corporation for residential demolitions, with $900,000 budgeted for 2025;
  • An agreement with ISP Group capped at $500,000 for a smart parking system pilot program in downtown Peoria;
  • Temporary amendments to the city code to reduce fees and allow additional locations for food trucks and sidewalk vendors;
  • Allocating a maximum of $325,000 for preliminary engineering services on combined sewer overflow storage, as well as $100,000 for in-system storage in Districts 1, 2 and 3;
  • Participation in the Illinois Department of Transportation’s 2025 bridge washing program.

Additional items passed during regular business included a $375,000 modernization and retrofitting of a paint truck, a five-year drone management subscription for the police department at a total cost of $125,000, and acquiring a police canine with explosives detection capabilities.

The meeting also included a proclamation recognizing the Founder’s Day and 50th anniversary of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and a three-song performance by the Elite Holiday Choir.

Joe Deacon is a reporter at WCBU and WGLT. Contact Joe at jdeacon@ilstu.edu.