The Elgin City Council Wednesday night rejected an proposal by an Iowa development firm to rejuvenate the city`s downtown by establishing casino gambling on the Fox River.
Although Elgin is experiencing growth with new industry, its downtown and riverfront areas have declined. Steamboat Casino River Cruises of Bettendorf, Ia., was the first commercial firm in several years to propose extending the city`s economic boom to those sections, which still suffer from the loss of retail stores to shopping malls over the last 15 years.
Steamboat Casino approached the council two weeks ago for the endorsement, which it needed by Monday in an effort to meet the Illinois Gaming Board`s deadline to apply for a license to operate the riverboat in the spring.
The council voted 5-0 to reject the project. Three council members were absent.
”I had reservations from the beginning,” said Mayor George Van De Voorde, whose informal poll last week showed the council would reject the proposal. He said he couldn`t see a boat of that size traveling down the proposed route, a shallow and narrow portion of the Fox River.
Company officials were not at the meeting and could not be reached for comment Wednesday night, but earlier had said they would not resubmit the proposal.
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Steamboat Casino was seeking a license to allow a total of up to 1,200 passengers to play blackjack, poker and slot machines on a 200-by-70 foot riverboat on the Fox River. Developers who proposed to build a hotel and a parking pavilion said the project would bring 500,000 tourists and $2 million in revenue to the city every year.
City officials asked by the council to investigate the proposal found few serious problems.
A report by planning consultant John Mullins said riverboat gambling and the hotel would generate $2.6 million in revenue and employ as many as 900 people. The development was expected to spawn about 1,800 other jobs in the area.
But another consultant said the project would cause ”significant”
traffic problems, especially on the Kimball Street bridge.
”It is difficult to envision successfully handling the increased traffic demands placed on the current system without the addition” of a North End bridge, according to another report by Sasaki Associates of Watertown, Mass.
Police Chief Charles Gruber, who expressed some reservations last week, told the council Wednesday night, ”From a law enforcement point of view, there was no reason not to approve the application.” He said the project would use fewer police officers than similar developments because of the Illinois Gaming Board`s commitment to provide state police and requirement for Steamboat Casino to maintain ample security.
Iowa officials approved a similar plan by Steamboat Casino to begin operating a floating casino in Bettendorf by April. The Will County Board last week endorsed riverboat gambling proposals from another company for Joliet and an unincorporated area in the county three miles south of the city. Another company is seeking permission to establish a similar operation in Aurora.