‘An entirely new experience’: Hollywood Casino Aurora opens $360 million entertainment complex – Daily Herald

The Hollywood Casino Aurora threw open the doors Wednesday to a new, bigger home.
“This isn’t just a new building. It is an entirely new experience for our guests,” said Greg Moore, the casino’s general manager, during an opening ceremony attended by local elected officials, casino executives, employees and loyal casino patrons.
The crowd included Joe Stupec of Aurora, who has been gambling at the old casino in downtown Aurora for more than 30 years. He was accompanied by Aurora Mayor John Laesch.
“It’s more than I expected,” Stupec said of the new casino at 2500 N. Farnsworth Ave. After the speeches, he headed to one of the tables. He said he likes to play craps because “you are doing something, as opposed to letting a machine decide your fate.
The new casino features more ways for gamblers to try their luck.
In addition, they can stay overnight in a 226-room hotel, be pampered in a spa, and dine at several restaurants, including two owned by celebrity chefs Stephanie Izard and Giada De Laurentiis. There’s a 12,000-square-foot events center.
And if someone wants to have a wedding at the hotel, Moore can help out. He has obtained his state officiant license.
The casino has 50 table games and more than 1,000 slot and video poker machines.
It has also added sports gambling. The Sportsbook has its own pub, where players can watch events on large TVs while wagering.
The opening ceremony included a lion dance by a troupe from a Chinatown studio.
“It’s to give this place good luck. Get rid of all the evil spirits, so everyone has prosperity and luck,” said troupe drummer Keith Pickering.
They weren’t the only Asian touch at the opening. The Red Lotus Asian Kitchen restaurant was dishing out samples, including pork potstickers and Vietnamese spring rolls.
The original Hollywood Casino Aurora opened on June 17, 1993, on two riverboats on the Fox River. State law required casinos to be on riverboats, and for those boats to move. Patrons could gamble during two-hour trips on a stretch of the river about a mile long.
On Wednesday, Penn National Entertainment President and CEO Jay Snowden paid tribute to the original casino.
“That little riverboat (casino) just kept chugging and chugging,” Snowden said.
In 1999, the state allowed casinos to be permanently moored, or on barges. Aurora moved onto a stationary barge in 2002.
Aurora provided financial aid for the $360 million project through a tax increment financing district and a donation of land valued at roughly $8 million.
The city borrowed $50 million by issuing general-obligation bonds to lend money to Penn. The debt is to be repaid from increased property taxes on the property.
If property taxes don’t cover the debt, the casino has to make up the difference, according to a redevelopment agreement.

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