Several months ago, operators of one of the most successful casino hotels in Las Vegas came to tiny West Dundee with a plan full of glitz and grandeur: They’d put a casino riverboat and hotel on the Fox River, and people would come.
It would be a boon to the area’s economy, representatives of Mirage Resorts Inc., told West Dundee village officials.
The riverboat operation would generate $45 million annually in state and local tax revenues, and at least 1,700 area residents would be employed, many in high-paying casino jobs, Mirage officials said.
But since the proposal was floated, an opposition movement has taken shape, and on Tuesday night about 200 area residents urged their elected officials to send the people from Vegas back home.
It’s a sentiment being expressed further up the Fox River, too, by Lake County residents who live near Antioch, where another riverboat proposal is being considered. West Dundee is competing with Antioch, Elgin, Moline and Sauget for the last of 10 riverboat licenses being issued by the Illinois Gaming Board.
“It seems like this will bring big-time gambling to a small town,” said Richard Witowski, 43, a mail carrier who lives in West Dundee. “People are drawn here by the idea that it’s a small town.”
Nancy Ottinger, 45, a homemaker, agreed.
“I live adjacent to where it would be built. I’m not anti-gambling, but I’d like to keep this a small community.”
Residents forced a town meeting on Mirage’s proposal after a public hearing by the zoning board last week.
“This is outside the normal process of the Village Board, but we felt this was a significant issue and that it warrants additional citizen input,” said Joseph Cavallaro, village administrator. The Village Board has agreed to study the matter but has not yet voted on the plan.
The $90 million gambling complex would be on 30 acres on the western bank of the Fox River east of Illinois Highway 31. It would include a 100-foot-wide 19th Century-style riverboat, a terminal with restaurants, bars and shops, and a 216-room hotel.
“It’s going to become the foremost gaming complex in the Middle West,” said Douglas Pool, an executive with Mirage who has been working to sell the plan to West Dundee. “It’s going to be run by the most sophisticated operator of casinos.”
Cavallaro said the village would have to study the effects the casino would have on area businesses, crime, traffic, and the environment before it would approve a plan to annex the 30 acres, which are in unincorporated Kane County.
But if the plan were to be approved, Cavallaro said, and if business at the complex became as fruitful as Mirage representatives insist it will be, the area would be looking at an additional $9 million in tax revenue a year.
Of that amount, Mirage said, $3 million would stay in West Dundee, a town of 3,500 that runs on a budget of less than $4 million. The remaining $6 million would be shared with neighboring communities and schools, officials said.
The state, meanwhile, would receive an estimated $36 million in annual tax revenues, Mirage said.
Among those opposing the plan were business owners, members of the religious community, and some residents.
“We don’t need the money,” said Greg Samata, a graphic artist who lives and works in West Dundee. “We’re a home-rule municipality, and we have Springhill Mall. We don’t need them. If we need money, we can float a referendum. This is just greed.”
Samata, who shared his views Tuesday before the meeting, said a casino would kill West Dundee’s image.
“Here’s the deal: If there’s a casino in West Dundee, there will be an advertising budget to promote it on every television station, every radio station, and on billboards every day of the year,” Samata said. “They’ll say, `Come and gamble in our casino.’ Dundee will become synonymous with gambling, and it will immediately change the perception and image of this charming little community.”
In a presentation at the hearing, Pool emphasized that the complex would be a mixed-use facility.
“We’re going to bring not just another cramped, smoky casino to West Dundee,” he said. The complex would be “elegant” and in keeping with the classical architecture of the area, he added.
Although most people who attended the hearing opposed the plan, a few liked it.
“I’m for it, because I think it will keep my property taxes down,” said Peter Matsukis, 29. “If Arlington Heights can live with a racetrack, we can live with a riverboat.”
Riverboat licenses have been issued for boats in Alton, Aurora, Joliet-which has two licenses-East Peoria, East Dubuque, Metropolis, Rock Island and East St. Louis.
The West Dundee Village Board will vote on the issue within two or three months, Cavallaro said.
“Conceptually the board is in agreement to consider this proposal,” he said.
Among the considerations of the Illinois Gaming Board when granting licenses is the opinion of the local elected governing body.
