The Illinois Gaming Board issued a stop work order Thursday at the planned Bally’s Chicago casino site in River West after it was discovered that the construction project was using an unauthorized subcontracted waste hauler previously alleged to have had ties to organized crime.
D&P Construction, a Melrose Park company which provided dumpsters used at the 30-acre site, was hired by the Chicago Community Builders Collective, a minority-led general contracting partnership constructing Bally’s Chicago $1.7 billion permanent casino complex.
“Today we were informed by IGB that the contractors working on the Bally’s Chicago site were utilizing an unapproved vendor and were issued a stop work notice,” a Bally’s spokesperson said in a statement Thursday evening. “We appreciate the diligence and action of IGB. This is the process at work. We look forward to working with the IGB to eliminate the possibility of it happening again.”
The use of D&P Construction dumpsters at the Bally’s Chicago site was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, which alerted the Gaming Board this week, precipitating the stop work order.
The Gaming Board confirmed the stop work order Thursday, without naming the specific vendor.
“The Illinois Gaming Board issued an order to cease construction work on the Bally’s Chicago permanent casino in connection with a pending IGB investigation into the use of undisclosed and unapproved vendors at the construction site,” the state agency said in a statement. “The IGB is investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding the use of vendors at the permanent casino construction site. The IGB takes these matters seriously, and it will take appropriate action to maintain integrity and safety following the completion of the investigation.”
In 2005, D&P’s alleged ties to organized crime were among the factors cited in a Gaming Board investigation that led to the license revocation of the proposed Emerald Casino in Rosemont, where the construction firm did work at the planned casino site.
The license went instead to Rivers Casino Des Plaines, which launched in 2011 and grew to be the state’s top-grossing casino.
Efforts to reach D&P for comment Thursday evening were unsuccessful.
In May 2022, Rhode Island-based Bally’s was selected to build the Chicago casino, besting finalists Rivers Casino and Hard Rock with a proposal that includes an exhibition hall, a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater, 10 restaurants and 4,000 gaming positions.
The stop work order is the latest setback for Bally’s Chicago and its planned casino complex at the former site of the Chicago Tribune printing plant along the Chicago River.
Bally’s, which has been operating a temporary casino at Medinah Temple since September 2023, navigated a one-month demolition stoppage in December after construction debris from the remnants of the Freedom Center, once the largest newspaper printing plant in North America, spilled into the river.
In February, Bally’s began driving foundational caissons into the ground, with casino executives reiterating the permanent casino still was targeted for a September 2026 opening.
It remains to be seen if the Gaming Board-imposed work stoppage will affect construction timing.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
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