Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe downtown casino plan has a surprising ally: Chicago River lovers. Many of the details are being sorted out. But advocates say enough safeguards are in place to ensure that what happens at the casino site will improve the river, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m stating the obvious here, but the transformation of that stretch of the river between Function A, what it was, and Function B, what it will be, is going to be one of the most dramatic switches that we\u2019ve seen in the river,\u201d Masengarb said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, the big printing plant known as Freedom Center shrugs off the river with its stark brick wall. Along with the property\u2019s massive private parking lot, it holds the \u201csaddest park ever,\u201d according to what Masengarb said she\u2019s heard Chicago Architecture Center river tour docents call it: \u201cThere\u2019s, like, one picnic table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s going in its place will be, almost by default, a big improvement. And it will be significant beyond its site as a vital part of the connective tissue linking the improved river downtown to what it will be elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe casino district now creates a destination,\u201d said Maurice Cox, Lightfoot\u2019s planning and development commissioner. \u201cSo, I feel like that\u2019s the next thing: Let\u2019s establish a green plan and character of the casino district. And that will then inform the way the rest of the river should develop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Ballys-casino-planned-for-downtown-Chicago-backed-by-Chicago-River-advocates-Chicago-Sun-Times-3.png?resize=640%2C360&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Ballys-casino-planned-for-downtown-Chicago-backed-by-Chicago-River-advocates-Chicago-Sun-Times-2.png?resize=640%2C360&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Ballys-casino-planned-for-downtown-Chicago-backed-by-Chicago-River-advocates-Chicago-Sun-Times-1.png?resize=640%2C360&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Ballys-casino-planned-for-downtown-Chicago-backed-by-Chicago-River-advocates-Chicago-Sun-Times.png?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn the renderings Bally\u2019s has released, the riverside portions of the site are transformed into a kind of Riverwalk north, with dining options along the promenade. Wide steps descend from the casino\u2019s clear-glass walls to the river edge, where water taxis can dock. Kayakers paddle out front. A terraced park toward the south of the property brings in fountains and green space, albeit in front of a fence at the waterside. A pedestrian bridge connects the casino site\u2019s park area to an existing park across the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A great addition to the riverfront will create jobs and a fun-filled entertainment district for the community. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The City\u2019s Committee on Design weighs in on Bally\u2019s Casino design. Full Presentation: The downtown casino plan has a surprising ally: Chicago River lovers. Many of the details are being sorted out. But advocates say enough safeguards are in place to ensure that what happens at the casino site will improve the river, too. \u201cI\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2632,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_metasync_otto_title":"","_metasync_otto_description":"","_metasync_otto_keywords":"","_metasync_otto_og_title":"","_metasync_otto_og_description":"","_metasync_otto_twitter_title":"","_metasync_otto_twitter_description":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","_aioseo_title":"","_aioseo_description":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[291],"tags":[444,445,33,446],"class_list":["post-2629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chicago","tag-ballys-casino","tag-casino","tag-chicago","tag-gambling"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image.png?fit=840%2C560&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2629"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2641,"href":"https:\/\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629\/revisions\/2641"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tridence.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}