
Chicago’s 30-year quest for a casino and entertainment complex that city officials are counting on to bail out police and fire pension funds is now exclusively in the hands of the Illinois Gaming Board.
The City Council put the rest of its chips on the table Wednesday, giving Bally’s zoning approval for a $1.7 billion River West casino at Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street. The vote was 39-to-5. Mayoral challenger Sophia King (4th) abstained because her attorney husband “may have represented Bally’s” at some point in the past.