Illinois Bill Would Authorize $150M Racino in Decatur

Posted on: January 7, 2025, 05:02h. 

Last updated on: January 7, 2025, 05:02h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

Forget Sin City, a casino, harness track, and 60,000-square-foot sports complex could be coming to “Soy City,” aka Decatur, Ill., “the Soybean Capital of the World.”

Decatur racino, racetrack, harness track, Revolutionary Racing, Illinois, Hawthorne Race Course
As well as authorizing horse racing in Macon County, the bill is expected to set a deadline for the Hawthorne Race Course, pictured above, to build a racino of its own. (Image: DRF)

Decatur was not one of five locations earmarked for regional casino licenses by the massive gambling expansion package signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in June 2019. But a bill soon to be filed in the state legislature would authorize a license for harness racing in Macon County, of which Decatur is the seat, The Herald & Review reports.

Not only did the 2019 legislation open up Chicago to casino gaming it also allowed the state’s racetracks to upgrade to racinos in a bid to save the ailing industry. Six years later, not a single racino has opened.

But that’s about to change.

The former Fairmount Park Racetrack expects to open a temporary gaming facility in the second quarter of this year. Now, a proposed project for Decatur hopes to be up and running by late 2026.

Revolutionary Racing

While the new bill would essentially create an open tender for a Decatur license, it has been created with one particular candidate in mind.

Virginia-based Revolutionary Racing has pledged to invest $150 million in the Decatur project, which it estimates would create 300 permanent jobs and generate up to $27 million in taxes.

Revolutionary Racing, which is in the process of building an $80 million racetrack in Kentucky, states on its website that it works with legislators “to adapt laws and save horse racing.”

The developer told the Herald & Review this week it’s eyeing a fall 2026 as an opening date for the proposed facility but that depends on when the legislation is approved by the state legislature.

Lawmakers and lobbyists backing the bill say it is likely to be top priority when the new legislative session begins on Wednesday, according to The Herald & Review.

Pressure on Hawthorne

The bill is also expected to set a deadline for the Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney, near Chicago, to build a racino of its own.

The state granted the track preliminary approval to move forward with a racino project in 2019, shortly after Pritzker signed the enabling legislation. Demolition work began on its grandstand, but the project was halted and has been on hold ever since.

Last May, The Chicago Tribune reported that the track’s owners have been unable to get loans to build the racino and owe large debts to contractors.

Hawthorne’s inaction has prevented other potential projects from getting off the ground because the 2019 legislation gave the track the power to veto any proposed new racetrack within a 35-mile radius.

The Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association is backing a push to have Hawthorne’s veto power revoked.