Ameristar Casino owner plans new casino in Illinois
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Las Vegas-based Penn Entertainment Inc., the parent of two Indiana casinos, has broken ground on a $360 million casino in Aurora, Illinois. The new Hollywood Casino Aurora will be located about 60 miles from Penn’s Ameristar Casino in East Chicago.
Penn currently operates Hollywood Casino Aurora at on the Fox River in downtown Aurora. The move inland is the result of a law passed in 2019 allowing for riverboat casinos to move on land.
The new casino, hotel and entertainment venue will be located off of Interstate 88 near the Chicago Premium Outlets mall.
“We are thrilled to soon begin construction on a new, state-of-the-art Hollywood Casino Aurora,” Penn Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden said in a news release. “Our tremendous and long-lasting partnership with the city of Aurora has provided an opportunity to relocate our property to an ideal location that will significantly improve our offerings and further our positive economic impact on the community.”
When complete, the new casino will have about 1,200 gaming positions, 220 hotel rooms, a retail sportsbook and a 12,000-square-foot event center. The facility is expected to have about 700 employees, nearly double the headcount of the current Aurora casino.
Construction is expected to take about two years to complete.
Our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana report Penn Entertainment doesn’t have any plans to make changes to the Ameristar Casino, which is only about an hour and 15 minute drive from the new Aurora location.
Penn Entertainment also operates Hollywood Casino & Hotel Lawrenceburg in southeast Indiana.