Rockford City Mayor Tom McNamara officiated at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new, Hard Rock temporary casino at 610 N. Bell School Road. The 37,000-square-foot casino will be open 24/7, offering 635 slot machines, two restaurants, and a retail shop. Visitors will be able to enjoy the temporary casino for around two years while the permanent Hard Rock Casino is built.
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Mayor McNamara commented that Hard Rock followed through on hiring local Rockfordians, and that local contractors were used. He gave a heartfelt thank you to Hard Rock’s commitment to the Rockford community.
The COO of Hard Rock International, Jon Lucas, was also in attendance. Lucas told the crowd that from day one, he knew that Rockford would be a perfect fit for a Hard Rock Casino. He thanked Mayor McNamara and other local leaders for their energy, passion, and great working relationship with his company. Lucas also stressed that his company made it a priority to use local vendors and hire team members from Rockford. Hard Rock plans to be an active member of the community for many years.
During the opening ceremony, Rockford Casino President Geno Iafrate surprised the community with a $25,000 donation each to Rockford Promise and the International Women’s Baseball Center. Furthermore, tax revenue from the temporary casino will go towards funding the $1.5 million-a-year Rockford Promise NIU Scholarship program.
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About the Rockford Promise NIU Scholarships Program
The revenue generated by the Hard Rock temporary casino will fund the Rockford Promise NIU Scholarships Program. This program funds scholarship for Rockford Public School students to attend Northern Illinois University. Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara initiated the program, and sees it as an investment in the future workforce of Rockford; an educated workforce means better jobs and improved economic development.
It’s hoped that the scholarship program will improve attendance at Rockford Public Schools. The scholarships will cover tuition and fees for public school students from Rockford who graduate with at least a 3.0 GPA.
Community leaders feel that a better-educated workforce will not only attract new industries but also reduce crime and attract new residents.
Pritzker Opened the Door for the Rockford Hard Rock
Governor JB Pritzker signed the gaming expansion bill in June 2019, allowing six areas in the state to open casinos. One of those areas was Rockford, in the far, northeast corner of Illinois. By October 2019, Rockford city leaders approved a plan submitted by Hard Rock International.
In June of 2020, Hard Rock’s temporary casino was approved by the Illinois Gaming Board; soon after, a renovation of the former Giovanni’s Restaurant and Convention Center was underway.
With less than a day’s notice on November 10, hundreds of people were lined up for the grand opening. Rockford became the first of the six areas opened by Governor Pritzker to open a casino.
Now that the temporary casino is open, it has exceeded all expectations; Rockfordians visited the casino a record 41,637 times within the three weeks, generating more than $4 million in revenue after winners were paid. That revenue was generated exclusively by slots and electronic games.
Out of that $4 million, the City of Rockford gets 70% of the nearly $250,000 local share of gaming revenue taxes. The city will use that revenue to fund the Rockford Promise NIU Scholarships Program.
The remaining 30% of the local share is to be divided between Winnebago County governments.
The lion’s share goes to the state of Illinois, receiving close to $500,000 in revenue from the Rockford Hard Rock Casino.
Hard Rock Rockford Celebrates the Holidays with the Community
The temporary Hard Rock Casino gave Rockfordians a place to go on Christmas, by staying open all day. Some people stopped by after the family celebration, while others took advantage of the open restaurants for a holiday celebration.
Hard Rock also threw open its doors for a 70s style New Year’s Eve disco party. The celebration went from 6:00 p.m. to 2 a.m. with hot seat promotions for loyalty cardholders; a hot seat promotion means that if anyone in a bank of slot machines wins, every loyalty cardholder in that row wins. As expected, the casino welcomed a huge party crowd on New Year’s Eve.
Year-round, visitors to the Hard Rock Rockford can view the casino’s collection of rock n’ roll memorabilia. The collection includes Rockford native Rick Nielsen’s black suit worn on his 2008 tour, plus his 1978 Hamer Explorer guitar painted with a checkerboard pattern. Also, visitors can see a Washburn guitar used by Paul Stanley of Kiss during a 2000 Rockford concert.
