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Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor cuts the ribbon officially opening The Temporary by American Place casino in February with Full House Resorts President and CEO David Lee, to her right, helping. (Steve Sadin / Lake County News-Sun)
Nearly 20 months after Full House Resorts received permission to begin work on a Waukegan casino and almost six months after opening The Temporary at American Place, a recent decision by the Illinois 1st District Appellate Court has created some uncertainty about the project.
Full House was initially competing with three other bidders when the Waukegan City Council recommended it to the Illinois Gaming Board along with North Point Casino and Midwest Gaming in November 2019.
At the time, the council rejected the bid of the Forest County Potawatomi Community. More than two years later with the board set to make a decision Dec. 8, 2021, the Forest County Potawatomi Community unsuccessfully asked a Cook County court to halt the process and let it participate.
Cook County Judge Cecilia Horan dismissed the Potawatomi request Dec. 7, 2021, and the next day the gaming board unanimously gave Full House a preliminary finding of suitability to begin planning and building a casino in Waukegan.
The 1st District Appellate Court reversed Horan’s decision in a written opinion July 28 in Chicago directing the Cook County court to give the Forest County Potawatomi Community a hearing on its request to join the proceeding for the Waukegan license.
Attorneys for the gaming board – the office of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul – and the city of Waukegan must decide whether they will appeal the appellate court’s ruling to the Illinois Supreme Court or prepare for a hearing in Cook County court.
No decisions have been made yet and they have 35 days from Friday to file ether a notice of appeal or a notice for a rehearing. April McLaren, the deputy press secretary for Raoul, said in an email she had no comment because the case is still pending.
Stewart Weiss, an attorney for Waukegan Corporation Counsel Elrod Freedman, also said the city will not comment on pending litigation.
Jeff Crawford, the attorney general for the Forest County Potawatomi Community, said in an email he is eagerly awaiting the community’s day in court. He is glad the court believes the Forest County Potawatomi Community’s claims have merit, particularly those against Waukegan.
“The court acknowledged Potawatomi’s detailed allegations of the city’s failure to lawfully conduct the casino selection process and recognized that retracting the current casino license and repeating the casino selection process would remedy Potawatomi’s claims,” Crawford said in the email.
Alex Stolyar, Full House’s senior vice president and chief development officer, said Thursday the company was awaiting an opinion from its attorneys before deciding what to do about the appellate court’s decision.
“Our legal team is reviewing the ruling and we’re waiting on that,” Stolyar said
In her ruling in December 2021, Horan said there was no rush to act and grant an injunction to stop the gaming board’s proceeding the following day. She later dismissed the entire case and the Forest County Potawatomi Community filed its appeal.
“The casino is not going to open tomorrow,” Horan said at the time. “There are still many, many steps before anyone opens a casino in Waukegan. I’m not convinced (Potawatomi) has standing to stop the Illinois Gaming Board’s process, and the exact rights it had before this process happened.”
In its opinion, the appellate court Friday also did not see a rush. Since Full House is operating on a temporary license, the court reasoned there was time but also wrote “if the court were to provide the requested relief, the defendants would be required to retract the issued license and repeat the process.”
“The permanent casino is still under construction, and Full House would be operating at its temporary location for another 12 months,” the court said in its opinion.
Since Full House received its initial green light from the board, it began planning its temporary casino, which opened Feb. 17. Since then, it has averaged 70,107 visitors a month, third best among the state’s casinos, officials said.
Full House is moving ahead with plans for its permanent site. David Motley, the public relations director for the city of Waukegan, said the company will present its concept on the permanent casino to the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission Thursday.
Copyright © 2023, Chicago Tribune

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