Just over a year after the groundbreaking for the new $360 million Hollywood Casino-Aurora resort, officials said construction is on track and set to be completed in the first half of 2026.
The announcement was made at a small ceremony on Thursday, which was held among the construction at the site of the new casino along Farnsworth Avenue and Bilter Road, across the street from Chicago Premium Outlets mall and near the Interstate 88 interchange.
In addition to giving an update on the status of construction, the ceremony was also held to recognize the tradespeople who are working on the project, according to Hollywood Casino-Aurora Vice President and General Manager Greg Moore.
The tradespeople and their teams have been “working tirelessly, tirelessly for the last year to build one of the largest buildings Aurora’s seen in many years,” he said.
After the ceremony, Moore said that the casino resort’s hotel is now at full height, the entertainment center is fully enclosed and the pre-cast parking garage is nearly complete. He said the casino floor and administrative offices are set to be located near where the Thursday ceremony was held, which was between the parking garage and the hotel tower.
Construction work is progressing as fast as expected, and the weather has so far been cooperative, Moore said.
Over the next few months, construction crews will be closing the hotel tower with glass at a rate of about two floors per week, and the roof will be put on in the next month or two, according to Moore. Then, construction will shift to the inside, he said.
While the casino resort project broke ground only about a year ago, it was “only a few years ago” when Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin and Aurora Chief Management Officer Alex Alexandrou jumped on a plane to meet with executives of Penn Entertainment, which owns Hollywood Casino-Aurora, and pitched the idea of a new casino for the city, Irvin said during the ceremony.
“I thought that it was only a dream and that maybe we had wasted our time jumping on that airplane,” he said.
Local officials were worried that Penn Entertainment might pull out of Illinois altogether as revenues at its casinos in both downtown Aurora and Joliet fell, according to past reporting. The Aurora casino contributed about $15 million a year in gaming taxes to the city at its highest point, but that has fallen to just below $6 million in recent years.
But, Aurora and Penn Entertainment “came up with a vision together” for the new casino, Irvin said at Thursday’s ceremony. Now, when Irvin sees the casino structure rising from the ground, he see something special, he said.
“This is the beginning of the success we’ll see in the city of Aurora,” Irvin said. “This is the new Aurora.”
Penn Entertainment’s Senior Vice President of Regional Operations Rafael Verde said at the ceremony that he was grateful for the support and partnership of the city of Aurora on the project.
The company also has three other major projects currently in development, including the new Hollywood Casino in Joliet, all of which are also on schedule, he said.
After the ceremony, officials in attendance signed a rendering of the new casino, which Moore said is set to be hung “someplace special” inside the casino.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com