Governor OKs Beloit casino
Ho-Chunk facility could be one of state’s largest
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers gave approval Wednesday for the Ho-Chunk Nation to build a $405 million casino in Beloit, clearing one of the Wisconsin tribe’s major hurdles for the long-sought project.
Last year the administration of then President Donald Trump approved the project. The Democratic governor announced Wednesday he was siding with that decision, allowing it to move forward.
Wisconsin governors have sole say on casino projects, and Republicans who control the Legislature don’t have an easy way to block them if they oppose them.
The complex just west of Interstate 39/90 would feature a casino, convention center, 300-room hotel and 40,000-square-foot indoor water park on 73 acres, according to the tribe and government officials. It would create 1,500 permanent jobs and 2,000 construction jobs.
“As we work to bounce back from this pandemic, we must do everything we can to support economic development in communities across our state,” Evers said in a statement.
The casino would be one of the largest in the state and would sit on Wisconsin’s border with Illinois, allowing it to easily draw out-of-state visitors. But the casino could cut into business at some of the tribe’s existing gambling facilities, including ones in Madison and near Wisconsin Dells.
The approval comes as plans for a proposed Hard Rock casino in Rockford — just 20 miles from Beloit — also advance.
Construction of the Beloit casino will
likely begin within the next year, said Lori Curtis Luther, Beloit’s city manager. The casino will be built first and other parts of the project will be constructed later, said Ryan Greendeer, a spokesman for the tribe.
Unlike some casinos in Wisconsin, the Beloit facility will likely be smokefree, according to Sarah Lemieux, a Ho-Chunk representative. Wisconsin has an indoor smoking ban, but tribal casinos do not have to adhere to it because the tribes are sovereign nations.
Ho-Chunk officials declined to say how much money they expect the Beloit casino to generate. A portion of its revenue will go to the state, but the tribe and state officials have not yet negotiated those terms, Greendeer said.
Separately, 2% of the casino’s revenue will go to local governments, with 70% of that amount going to Beloit and 30% to Rock County, according to Luther.
There have been efforts to establish a casino in Beloit for more than 20 years, and the latest proposal has been in the works since 2012, according to the city and the tribe.
“This project has been a long time coming and is a game-changer for Beloit in terms of jobs created, shared revenues and increased tourism,” Beloit City Council President Regina Dunkin said during an online news conference.
Evers gave the green light to the Beloit casino six years after then-Gov. Scott Walker blocked a proposed gambling hall in Kenosha that the Menominee tribe had long pursued.
Evers signed off on the Beloit deal a year after the federal Bureau of Indians Affairs gave its initial approval of it. Now that Evers has weighed in, the bureau can consider giving final approval for the project by putting 32 of the project’s 73 acres into federal trust.
After that, Evers and the tribe would have to finalize their agreement on casino operations. That’s the agreement that will determine how much of the casino’s revenue goes to the state.
Like many businesses, casinos have been reeling in the last year from a dramatic drop in visitors during the coronavirus pandemic. The situation has hurt tribal governments that receive much of their funding from casino revenue.
“We’ve been focusing so much time and effort on our COVID-19 response that it’s almost surreal to have this great news of the Governor’s concurrence today,” said a statement from Karena Thundercloud, the Ho-Chunk Nation’s vice president.
Evers has long backed the project. He told the Beloit Daily News during his 2018 campaign against Walker that he would approve the casino if it got to him.