Kenosha City Government Approves $360M Hard Rock Tribal Casino

Posted on: January 4, 2024, 08:19h. 

Last updated on: January 4, 2024, 10:59h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

The Kenosha city government on Wednesday night signed off on a $360 million Tribal casino pitched by the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in partnership with Florida-based Hard Rock International, a subsidiary of the Seminole Tribe.

Hard Rock Kenosha Menominee Wisconsin
A rendering of the proposed $360 million Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Kenosha in Wisconsin. The tribal casino project from the Menominee Indian Tribe gained city approval this week. (Image: Hard Rock International)

The Kenosha Common Council voted 11-6 in favor of selling 60 acres of city-owned land to the Menominee that was formerly the Dairyland Greyhound racetrack. The parcel is located west of Interstate 94 at 60th St. The purchase price will be $15 million.

There’s no local place big enough to hold a large event for a few hundred people, so we’re not just bringing a gaming operation here, we’re bringing all the amenities that come with it,” Menominee spokesperson Joey Awonohopay told the council.

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Kenosha, as the project is tentatively called, is to include a casino floor with 1,500 slot machines, 55 table games, and a Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook. A 150-room hotel would be complemented by seven restaurants highlighted by a Hard Rock Café, a 2,000-seat Hard Rock Live concert hall, and a gift shop.

Project Needs Further Approvals

The Kenosha Common Council’s backing of the Menominee casino pitch — which would add a second casino to the Tribe’s economic portfolio with its current Menominee Casino Resort in Keshena — is the first step in a lengthy approval process. The project next needs the support of the Kenosha County Board of Supervisors. The county government is expected to vote on the Tribal casino later this month.

If the county follows the city’s lead in endorsing the gaming scheme, the Tribe would then need to petition the federal government to place the land into the federal trust and designate the property as a sovereign territory. The Tribe will need to prove historical ties to the area before the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs can designate the 60 acres as Tribal lands.

If that happens through a process that could take several months, the final step would be the Menominees extending their Class III compact with the state to the second casino. In 2015, then-Gov. Scott Walker (R) refused to grant the Tribe state rights to operate Las Vegas-style slots and table games in Kenosha. That’s after the Menominees pitched a larger $800 million casino project.

Governor More Receptive to Casino

The Menominee Indian Tribe and Hard Rock are betting that current Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) will be more receptive to a casino in Kenosha than Walker was. Evers succeeded Walker in January 2019.

I have approved casinos in the past. I think Tribal nations of Wisconsin have the right to do that. I’ve approved sports gambling,” Evers said in July 2022.

There are local opponents, however, who say a Hard Rock casino would negatively impact Kenosha. They argue it would reduce home values and increase crime and financial problems.

“Why don’t we challenge the elected officials to ask, ‘Is there any other way we can look for other companies to come in to bring union work?’ Why do we have to rely on something that brings addiction and negative consequences to bring union jobs? Why can’t we find something positive for the community?” asked John Bush of the group Citizens Against Expanded Gaming.