After more than 30 years on the Fox River, it’s down to the last week for riverboat gambling at the Hollywood Casino Aurora.
The moored riverboat, which used to ply the waterway on daily gambling junkets, will close for good on June 10 ahead of the move to dry land and a new $360 million casino complex, which is opening two weeks later.
“Our Aurora riverboat has created thousands of memorable experiences and supported economic development throughout the city for over three decades, and we look forward to replicating these successes for years to come,” Jay Snowden, CEO and president of casino owner Penn Entertainment, said in a news release.
Located near Interstate 88 and Chicago Premium Outlets mall, the new Hollywood Casino Aurora will feature 1,200 gaming positions, a 226-room hotel, a 12,000-square-foot event center and a smorgasbord of dining options including Sorella by Giada and Boulevard Food & Drink.
The co-owned Hollywood Casino Joliet, which moved in August from a riverboat to a new land-based casino with similar amenities — sans the hotel — has seen its revenue and attendance jump.
Hollywood Casino Joliet ranks fifth among the state’s 17 casinos with $47.7 million in adjusted gross receipts through April, up 66% year-over-year, according to the latest report from the Illinois Gaming Board.
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Both suburban Hollywood casinos were among the state’s original riverboats.
When Illinois legalized riverboat gambling 36 years ago, it meant driving to places like Joliet, Aurora and Peoria, paying an admission fee and taking a two-hour ride down a river on a floating casino.
The Empress Casino, the forerunner of Hollywood Casino Joliet, launched its first riverboat in June 1992 from a newly built dock on the Des Plaines River south of Joliet near Channahon, adding a second boat in December 1993. The Hollywood Casino Aurora hit the Fox River in June 1993 with two riverboats offering cruises from a downtown dock every 90 minutes.
Penn acquired the Hollywood Casino chain in 2002 and added the Empress three years later. The Joliet casino was rebranded as Hollywood in 2009, after a fire destroyed its Egyptian-themed pavilion.
The move to dry land has taken decades and several regulation changes.
In 1999 the state eliminated the cruising regulations, allowing casinos to remain docked or simply be built over water. Harrah’s Joliet became the first to ditch the boat in 2001, constructing a casino on barges connected to its pavilion. Hollywood Casino Aurora also retired its boats and moved to its current home built on a moored barge in 2002.
By the time Rivers Casino Des Plaines opened in 2011, the northwest suburban facility was simply built over a 144,000-gallon man-made pool to qualify as a riverboat.
The state’s sweeping 2019 gambling expansion bill, which added everything from six new casinos to sports betting, took it one step further, allowing all casinos to be built on or moved to dry land.
New land-based casinos have proved a big draw in Illinois. Wind Creek in south suburban East Hazel Crest, which opened in late 2024 and added an adjacent hotel last spring, is the second-busiest casino in the state this year behind perennial leader Rivers Casino Des Plaines.
Hard Rock Casino Rockford, which opened its permanent facility in August 2024 after nearly three years in temporary digs, is the third busiest casino in Illinois this year. Last month, Hard Rock announced plans to build an adjacent $90 million hotel.
Other casinos in the development pipeline include Bally’s Chicago, which topped off construction on its $1.7 billion entertainment complex going up in River West in April, with plans to open in the first quarter of 2027.
Bally’s Chicago, which has been operating out of a temporary casino at Medinah Temple since September 2023, ranks sixth this year in revenues with $43.7 million in adjusted gross receipts, according to Gaming Board data.
Meanwhile, American Place broke ground Wednesday on its long-awaited permanent casino in Waukegan, despite not having all the financing in place for the $302 million facility, according to casino owner Full House Resorts. The permanent casino is expected to be completed in 2028.
“We decided to begin construction now, while we complete the legal and banking work on such financing,” Daniel Lee, CEO of Full House Resorts, said in a news release. “The early stages of construction take time and can be funded from our existing resources and cash flows. By starting construction now, we hope to open the permanent American Place in approximately two years.”
American Place has been operating on an extended license out of a temporary facility since February 2023.
This year, American Place ranks seventh among the state’s 17 casinos with $41.7 million in adjusted gross receipts through April, according to Gaming Board data.
As for Hollywood Casino Aurora, which ranks ninth at $33.6 million in revenue through April, the storied riverboat will end its long run at 5:59 a.m. on June 10, clearing the decks for the new land-based casino to open on June 24, pending Gaming Board approval.