Kenosha site could get casino
Firm with Hard Rock tie has option on 60 acres
Here we go again.
For at least the fourth time since Indian casinos began legal operations in Wisconsin, a group appears to be eyeing Kenosha as a potential site for a tribal casino.
A company headquartered at the same address as the corporate offices for Hard Rock International recently agreed to pay up to $100,000 for an option to buy 60 acres in Kenosha that is owned by the Village of Bristol.
Randy Kerkman, Bristol village administrator, said officials from Kenosha Landco Co. LLC did not say why the company wants the property, which is on the east and west sides of 122nd Avenue in Kenosha.
The option agreement calls for Landco to pay more than $15 million to buy the property, a figure that Kerkman said indicates “they really wanted that land.” The village has been trying to sell property for several years, Kerkman said.
Gaming consultant Frank Fantini said a Hard Rock-managed Indian casino in Kenosha would lure gamblers from both sides of the state line.
“Is there enough business for Kenosha?” asked Fantini, principal of Fantini Advisors. “I’m going to say ‘yes’ (Kenosha) is going to be a destination spot.”
He added that if Hard Rock managed a tribal casino in Kenosha “you could bet it will be pretty spectacular ... it’s not going to be a barn with slots.”
Deal draped in secrecy
The deal with Kenosha Landco was done with little public attention.
In fact, the option agreement includes a secrecy clause stating that “Except as required by law, none of the parties hereto shall, directly or indirectly, disclose, comment or make any other communication concerning the contents of this letter prior to the execution of the Option Agreement without prior written notice to the other party.”
Officials from Hard Rock did not respond to requests for comment. Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian also did not return calls for comment.
Wisconsin Spotlight, a small web
site, initially reported the possibility of a Kenosha casino proposal this summer.
Multiple efforts for casinos
Casino operators have been dreaming of opening a gambling hall in Kenosha since tribal casinos were legalized in the 1990s. The location near the state line is seen as prime territory to lure gamblers from southeastern Wisconsin and the Chicago metro area.
The first effort to open a casino in Kenosha fell apart when questions were raised about the background of the Chicago investors and possible ties to organized crime.
If Hard Rock is eyeing a Kenosha casino it will be the second time that the firm, which owns or operates more than a dozen casinos in the U.S. and Canada, makes a run at tapping the lucrative state line market.
Several years ago, Hard Rock teamed up with the Menominee tribe to build an $800 million casino complex at the site of a closed dog racing track. That deal was was vetoed in 2015 by then-Gov. Scott Walker, who was mounting a run for president at the time.
A Kenosha Indian casino would enter a market that is already flush with legal gambling options.
Casinos are operating in Milwaukee and Rockford Ill., and gaming companies hope to open facilities in Waukegan, Ill., and Chicago. The Rockford casino is owned by Hard Rock.
In addition the Ho-Chunk tribe plans to open an off-reservation casino in Beloit. The Black River Falls tribe owns several casinos, including a large gambling hall near Wisconsin Dells.
Gaming companies have been raking in the winnings since since casinos were legalized in Illinois and on tribal land in Wisconsin.
From January through June the Rivers Casino, located in Des Plaines, Ill., near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport pocketed more than $244 million from gamblers, according to Illinois Gaming Commission records. The Hard Rock casino in Rockford — a temporary facility that will soon be replaced by a larger permanent gambling hall — raked in about $25.5 million during the same period, records show.
And, prior to the pandemic, the Potawatomi casino in Milwaukee, had been winning around $400 million annually from its customers.
Tribal partner needed
The road to opening an off-reservation casino is long and difficult.
For one thing only a Wisconsin tribe can own a casino in the state, meaning Hard Rock would have to team up with an Indian nation.
Then, the tribe would have to petition the federal government to place the land in trust — a process that would likely take years. It has taken the Ho-Chunk tribe about 10 years to win federal approval to place land in trust to build an off-reservation casino..
Finally, the governor has unilateral authority to approve or veto any off-reservation casino in the state — the Menominee learned in 2015 that years off planning could be killed by the stroke of a pen.
The Potawatomi mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign against the Menominee proposal and would surely do so again Hard Rock and a tribe makes another attempt convincing the federal government to put land in to trust to open a casino.
“The Potawatomi are opposed to a Florida tribe — with no connections to Wisconsin — coming to the state to open a casino,” the firm said in a statement issued by its public relations/lobbyist firm.
Opposition mobilizing
And groups that are opposed to new or expanded gambling would also line up to fight a Kenosha gambling hall.
Lorri Pickens, of Citizens Against Expanded Gambling, is already gearing up to fight another attempt to open a Kenosha gambling mecca.
“It’s really wrong for a government to make so much money off the losses of its citizens,” Pickens said.
She argued a casino does little to boost a community’s economy since gamblers tend to stay inside and play the slots and table games.
“People are often time bused in” to the casino and do not leave it to see a community or spend money at local restaurants or attractions, Pickens said. “Tourism often is not realized.”