Demolition at the former Freedom Center site, making way for the Bally’s Chicago Casino in Chicago on Jan. 29, 2025. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune)
The Illinois Gaming Board issued a stop work order Thursday at the planned Bally’s Chicago casino site in River West after it was discovered that the construction project was using an unauthorized subcontracted waste hauler previously alleged to have had ties to organized crime.
D&P Construction, a Melrose Park company that provided dumpsters used at the 30-acre site, was hired by the Chicago Community Builders Collective, a minority-led general contracting partnership constructing Bally’s Chicago $1.7 billion permanent casino complex.
“Today we were informed by IGB that the contractors working on the Bally’s Chicago site were utilizing an unapproved vendor and were issued a stop work notice,” a Bally’s spokesperson said in a statement Thursday evening. “We appreciate the diligence and action of IGB. This is the process at work. We look forward to working with the IGB to eliminate the possibility of it happening again.”
The use of D&P Construction dumpsters at the Bally’s Chicago site was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, which alerted the Gaming Board this week, precipitating the stop work order.
The Gaming Board confirmed the stop work order Thursday, without naming the specific vendor.
“The Illinois Gaming Board issued an order to cease construction work on the Bally’s Chicago permanent casino in connection with a pending IGB investigation into the use of undisclosed and unapproved vendors at the construction site,” the state agency said in a statement. “The IGB is investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding the use of vendors at the permanent casino construction site. The IGB takes these matters seriously, and it will take appropriate action to maintain integrity and safety following the completion of the investigation.”
In 2005, D&P’s alleged ties to organized crime were among the factors cited in a Gaming Board investigation that led to the license revocation of the proposed Emerald Casino in Rosemont, where the construction firm did work at the planned casino site.
The license went instead to Rivers Casino Des Plaines, which launched in 2011 and grew to be the state’s top-grossing casino.
Reached by phone, a D&P representative declined to comment Friday. The D&P dumpsters were removed from the Bally’s construction site Friday morning, according to a Gaming Board spokesperson.
In May 2022, Rhode Island-based Bally’s was selected to build the Chicago casino, besting finalists Rivers Casino and Hard Rock with a proposal that includes an exhibition hall, a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater, 10 restaurants and 4,000 gaming positions.
Demolition work takes place at the former Chicago Tribune Freedom Center in River West on Dec. 16, 2024, at the planned site of Bally’s casino complex. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Demolition work on Jan. 13, 2025, at the future site of the planned permanent Bally’s Chicago casino complex after the city approved a new plan for bringing down the last vestiges of the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
Stephen Meyer, a volunteer coordinator with the nonprofit Urban Rivers, cleans up perlite, a white insulation material used in construction, from the bank of the Chicago River at Division Street on Dec. 18, 2024, after demolition work Saturday at the former Chicago Tribune Freedom Center sent debris into the water. Videos shared on social media showed a crane bring down a wall, causing white granular material to spill into the river and bring protective netting down with it. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
A volunteer cleans up white insulation material from the bank of the Chicago River at Division Street on Dec. 18, 2024. Bally’s identified the debris as non-hazardous perlite, a volcanic glass used in construction. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
A video posted on Citizen social media showed the debris from the demolition of the former Chicago Tribune printing facility, the Freedom Center, falling into the Chicago River as the site is prepped for Bally’s Chicago casino on Dec. 14, 2024. (Citizen)
A barge sits along the Chicago River near what's left of the former Chicago Tribune Freedom Center on Dec. 18, 2024. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
What's left of the former Chicago Tribune Freedom Center building in River West is seen Dec. 16, 2024, at the future site of Bally’s Chicago casino. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim, center, swings a sledgehammer with others outside the former Chicago Tribune Freedom Center at a demolition event on Aug. 27, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
The Bally's Chicago casino, in the former historic Medinah Temple, is seen in a long exposure as traffic flows on Dec. 8, 2023. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
An artist's rendering shows the proposed $1.74 billion Bally’s Chicago casino, hotel and entertainment complex at the site of the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center, located on the corner of Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street. (Bally's/SCB)
Slot machines glow through the windows of Bally’s temporary casino at Medinah Temple in Chicago on April 11, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Bally’s Chicago casino at Medinah Temple in Chicago on April 11, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Gaming machines are visible through the main entrance to the Bally's casino at Medinah Temple, Sept. 8, 2023, in Chicago. The casino opened a day later. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Slots are seen from outside following Bally's casino ribbon-cutting ceremony, Oct. 3, 2023. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Signage for the Bally's Chicago casino appears at the former Medinah Temple in River North, shown July 18, 2023. (Talia Sprague/Chicago Tribune)
A man at Bally's casino for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Oct. 3, 2023. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
People walk past the historic Medinah Temple at 600 N. Wabash Ave. in Chicago, on Feb. 23, 2023. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Friedman Properties
Workers place a copper dome atop one corner of the Medinah Temple in this undated photo.
Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune
The Medinah Temple in Chicago's Near North neighborhood.
John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune
The Bloomingdale's store, housed in the historic Medinah Temple, owned by Friedman Properties, in the Near North neighborhood is seen on June 13, 2019, in Chicago.
People walk near the historic Medinah Temple and former Bloomingdale's store on Feb. 27, 2018. (Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune)
Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune
Morning traffic moves along Ohio Street by the Medinah Temple in Chicago on Sept. 30, 2022.
Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune
A man bikes near the Medinah Temple in Chicago's Near North neighborhood on Sept. 30, 2022.
Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune
The Medinah Temple, 600 N. Wabash Ave., in Chicago.
The historic Medinah Temple, 600 N. Wabash Ave. in Chicago's River North neighborhood, is seen on Feb. 23, 2023. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Brandon Johnson and Bally's Chairman Soo Kim attend Bally's casino ribbon-cutting ceremony, Oct. 3, 2023. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Bally's casino in Chicago, Oct. 3, 2023, in the historic Medinah Temple. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Then-State's Attorney Richard Daley and his wife, Maggie, acknowledge the crowd at a "Daley for Mayor" rally at Medinah Temple on North Wabash Avenue in Chicago on Feb. 2, 1983. (Val Mazzenga/Chicago Tribune)
John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune
Bloomingdale's, once housed in the Medinah Temple, owned by Friedman Properties, is seen in the Near North neighborhood on June 13, 2019, in Chicago.
The Medinah Temple is shown in this undated photo. Once owned by Friedman Properties, Bloomingale's department store was a tenant of the space, in the Near North neighborhood. (Friedman Properties)
The Bloomingdale's store, housed in the historic Medinah Temple, owned by Friedman Properties, in the Near North neighborhood is seen on June 13, 2019, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune
The Medinah Temple is seen on Sept. 30, 2022.
Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune
The historic Medinah Temple in Chicago is seen on Sept. 30, 2022. The city is releasing a study — paid for by the city's chosen casino developer — on the potential traffic impact of putting the temporary casino at the site.
Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune
A Bally's casino hiring notice is posted on an exterior door to the Medinah Temple on Feb. 23, 2023.
An artist's rendering shows the proposed Bally’s Chicago casino, hotel and entertainment complex at the site of the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center, located on the corner of Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street. (Bally's/SCB)
Workers compile election returns in the basement of the Medinah Temple on Nov. 3, 1964. (Gerry Souter/Chicago Tribune)
Workers compile election returns in the basement of the Medinah Temple on Nov. 3, 1964. The workers are students from Northwestern University, NBC staff, Moore Girls Employment Service and Northwestern University staff. (Gerry Souter/Chicago Tribune)
The Medinah Temple is seen on Jan. 4, 1990. (John Irvine/Chicago Tribune)
Two-year-old chimpanzee Saboo holds on to his owner, Pamela Rosaire Zoppe, onstage at the Medinah Temple on March 4, 1999, as they prepare for the final Shrine Circus performances at the venue. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)
A 1999 view shows the 42,00-seat auditorium that was inside the Medinah Temple. (Carl Wagner/Chicago Tribune)
The exterior of the Medinah Temple is seen in 1998. (Phil Greer/Chicago Tribune)
A bartender works in the Ivy Room at Tree Studios, owned by Friedman Properties, in the Near North neighborhood on June 13, 2019, in Chicago.
Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune
Pedestrians stroll past the Medinah Temple at Wabash Avenue in Chicago on Sept. 30, 2022.
Ed Asner, actor and political activist, helps distribute Mondale-Ferraro signs for a rally at Medinah Temple on Oct. 30, 1984, in Chicago. (Rick Musacchio / Chicago Tribune)
A January 2003 view from the top floor looks down into the atrium and the elevator of the Bloomingdale's Home Store inside the Medinah Temple in Chicago. (Scott Strazzante/Chicago Tribune)
Rugs are on display at Bloomingdale's, housed in the historical Medinah Temple, owned by Friedman Properties, in the Near North neighborhood on June 13, 2019, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Real estate developer Al Friedman describes the stained-glass renovations he made for the Bloomingdale's store, housed in the historical Medinah Temple, owned by Friedman Properties, in the Near North neighborhood on June 13, 2019, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
The Medinah Temple once housed an auditorium, as seen in this undated photo. Once owned by Friedman Properties, Bloomingale's was a tenant of the space, in the Near North neighborhood. (Friedman Properties)
Furniture items are on display at Bloomingdale's, housed in the historic Medinah Temple, owned by Friedman Properties, in the Near North neighborhood on June 13, 2019, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
People walk and bike near the Medinah Temple at Wabash Avenue and Ontario Street on Sept. 30, 2022. The four-story Moorish Gothic building was built in 1912 and originally owned by the Chicago chapter of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine — the Shriners. The onion-domed building once contained a 4,200-seat auditorium that hosted everything from political rallies to the Shrine Circus. The building was renovated and a Bloomingdale's home furnishings store opened in the structure in 2003. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
The historic Medinah Temple has distinctive onion domes, shown Feb. 23, 2023. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
The Medinah Temple at 600 North Wabash Avenue, March 14, 2023, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
The Medinah Temple at 600 N. Wabash Ave., March 14, 2023, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
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Demolition work takes place at the former Chicago Tribune Freedom Center in River West on Dec. 16, 2024, at the planned site of Bally’s casino complex. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The stop work order is the latest setback for Bally’s Chicago and its planned casino complex at the former site of the Chicago Tribune printing plant along the Chicago River.
Bally’s, which has been operating a temporary casino at Medinah Temple since September 2023, navigated a one-month demolition stoppage in December after construction debris from the remnants of the Freedom Center, once the largest newspaper printing plant in North America, spilled into the river.
In February, Bally’s began driving foundational caissons into the ground, with casino executives reiterating the permanent casino still was targeted for a September 2026 opening.
It remains to be seen if the Gaming Board-imposed work stoppage will affect construction timing.
On Friday, a Bally’s spokesperson said the casino company is “actively working” with the Gaming Board and the general contracting partnership on the “remediation plan approval,” but did not offer a timetable for resuming construction.
The Gaming Board said in an email Friday that the work shutdown was necessary to “determine the extent to which undisclosed or unapproved vendors are performing work on this project,” including the facts surrounding the hiring of D&P Construction. The agency did not have an estimate on how long construction would be shut down, but did not rule out potential consequences for Bally’s as a result of the investigation.
“It is too early to determine or speculate about potential discipline,” the Gaming Board said. “As a general matter, violations of IGB Rules – including the disclosure and pre-approval requirements at issue here – could result in discipline including a fine or other actions.”
