- Peoria’s attorneys believe East Peoria and Boyd Gaming are working to build a new casino in East Peoria.
- A loophole could be used by Boyd Gaming to usurp an intergovernmental agreement.
PEORIA — Attorneys for the city of Peoria have growing concerns that Boyd Gaming intends to use a loophole to build a casino in East Peoria, according to documents obtained by the Journal Star.
A law firm hired by Peoria accused East Peoria and Boyd Gaming, which operates the Par-A-Dice Casino, of working together to build a casino in East Peoria, despite a 1991 agreement signed between the two cities that stipulates that a land-based casino should be built on Peoria’s side of the river.
In a Feb. 4 letter, obtained by the Journal Star via the Freedom of Information Act, attorneys for the city of Peoria wrote to leaders in East Peoria:
“Please be advised that the City of Peoria intends to enforce its rights under the Intergovernmental Agreement to the full extent permitted by the law. In that regard, the City of Peoria, demands that the City of East Peoria cease all efforts to assist Boyd Gaming Corporation in relocating the Par-A-Dice Casino currently operating on its moored riverboat to a land-based location (in whole or in part) in the City of East Peoria.”Â
Boyd Gaming, according to a letter obtained by the Journal Star, informed Peoria in February that it intends to provide a “best-in class” water-based casino gaming experience in East Peoria. Peoria’s contention, according to the July 24 letter sent to East Peoria, is that Boyd is signaling they intend to use a loophole to build a land-based casino in East Peoria that they will say is “on water.”
“Boyd intends to provide a best-in-class gaming experience on water in East Peoria in accordance with its legal rights and obligations,” the letter, which came from Boyd’s attorneys, told Peoria.
Peoria’s attorneys, from the Elias, Meginnes and Seghetti law firm, said that sentence from Boyd Gaming indicates that Boyd intends to build a land-based casino in East Peoria but will pump water underneath the building and then call it “water based.”
“Note that based on historical practices, the term ‘on water’ indicates that Boyd intends to construct a building on land with water underneath all or part of the casino floor,” Peoria’s attorneys wrote to East Peoria Mayor John Kahl on July 24.
All letters were obtained by the Journal Star via the Freedom of Information Act.
Location of new casino at center of debate
Peoria says East Peoria and Boyd are working together to take advantage of a loophole that casinos in Illinois have used before to essentially build a casino on land that they call “water-based.”
In Des Plaines, Illinois, the original Rivers Casino was built on top of a shallow pool of water that allowed its operators to call it “water-based” during a time when land-based casino gambling was not yet legal.
In theory, Boyd Gaming could attempt to do something similar at the current site of the Par-A-Dice Casino in East Peoria.
Peoria’s worry does seem to have at least some evidence tied to it, according to the letter.
Peoria stated in its letter it has come to its attention that Boyd Gaming took soil boring samples in its parking lot at the current Par-A-Dice location, sparking concerns from Peoria.
“… the City of Peoria is concerned that Boyd intends to build a land-based casino in the City of East Peoria in violation of the intergovernmental agreement,” Peoria’s attorneys wrote.
Peoria’s attorneys in their letter then made five requests for confirmation from the city of East Peoria:
- That the borings in the parking lot of the Par-A-Dice complex are for the purpose of developing a building in which gambling operations will be located.
- That the construction of a building in which gambling operations are located in the parking lot of the Par-A-Dice complex would not be allowed by the City of East Peoria.
- That the construction of a building in which gambling operations are located in the parking lot of the Par-A-Dice complex would not be allowed by the City of East Peoria because it would violate the Intergovernmental Agreement.
- That the construction of a building in which gambling operations are located in the parking lot of the Par-A-Dice complex would violate the Intergovernmental Agreement.
- That the construction of a building in which gambling operations are located in the parking lot of the Par-A-Dice complex would violate Section 6 of the Intergovernmental Agreement.
Peoria concluded the letter saying: “If we do not hear from you with fourteen (14) days we will conclude that the City of East Peoria does not intend to comply with its mandatory obligations under Section 19 of the Intergovernmental Agreement.”
The letter from Peoria’s attorneys to Kahl mark the most explicit statement of Peoria’s fears that Boyd Gaming will try to utilize a loophole to avoid moving across the river to build its planned new casino.
Boyd has yet to announce location of new casino
Boyd Gaming has not said in calls with investors and meetings with the Illinois Gaming Board if its new facility would be land-based, water-based or built in East Peoria or Peoria.
Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith told investors in February that the company planned on building a $100 million casino to replace the Par-A-Dice Casino riverboat.
Peoria and East Peoria have been feuding for more than a year about the future of the Par-A-Dice. Peoria contends East Peoria needs to honor a 1991 agreement signed between the two cities that dictated that any land-based casino built in the region had to be on Peoria’s side of the river.
East Peoria has maintained that Peoria is overstepping on private business by trying to lure the planned new casino to its side of the river.
Kahl did not respond to a Journal Star emails requesting comment. However, at his State of the City address in February, Kahl said that East Peoria would “protect” the rights of private businesses to make their own decisions and the city would not tell businesses “what to do” or “where you have to be.”
Peoria Mayor Rita Ali sent a letter to the Illinois Gaming Board in February in which she said that Boyd Gaming needed to build a land-based casino in Peoria or sell its Par-A-Dice license to someone who would.
She also said in that letter it would be “frivolous” for East Peoria and Boyd Gaming to to “manipulate” the definition of “riverboat” or “land-based” gaming.
Peoria City Manager Patrick Urich told the Journal Star the July 24 letter from attorneys to East Peoria should “speak for itself.”
“We’re hopeful that East Peoria will honor their requirements under the intergovernmental agreement,” Urich said.
Ali said Peoria is trying to make sure that the intergovernmental agreement is honored “in its integrity.”
“We’re just trying to enforce and hope that both cities honor that,” Ali said. “All of our efforts and all of our communications are to that end.”
