by Neil Milbert

After putting together a team of investors, Hawthorne Race Course president Tim Carey submitted a bid to the Illinois Gaming Board on October 14 for the state’s dormant tenth casino license.

Collaborating with Carey are Ed Pilarz, president of Altium Development Group, an Illinois-based gaming developer, and Joseph Canfora, chief executive officer of Merit Management Group, an Illinois-based hotel and casino developer that has been involved in two racino projects.

Former Chicago Bears football coach Mike Ditka also is “a small partner” in the undertaking known as Champions Casino and Resort.

There were seven applications for the license and Hawthorne’s bid was tied for fourth highest.

However, Hawthorne appears to have a lot of other elements going for it.

“We offer the best shot for the State of Illinois getting the tenth license up as quickly as possible,” Carey said at an October 15 news conference. “We can get this up and running in six months and therefore provide the $200-million more in revenue to the state than any other applicant.

“The building exists; the land exists. It’s 136 unencumbered acres. We’re seven miles from downtown Chicago, and there are 4.2-million people within a 30-minute driving radius and 2.8-million reside within 10 miles. And we’re only a few miles from Midway Airport.”

Carey said the track’s Thoroughbred meetings would continue as scheduled during the redevelopment project. Hawthorne’s 2009 schedule calls for the current fall/winter meeting to continue through January 11 followed by meetings from March 6 through April 30 and October 1 through December 31.

With an accent on family entertainment, the massive $500-million project also would feature two hotels, several restaurants, bowling lanes, a 140,000-square foot entertainment district, a multi-screen movie theatre, a 150,000-square foot water park, and a 4,000-seat outdoor amphitheater.

After completing reconstruction of what now is the grandstand to put in a 40,000-square foot casino floor, 1,150 slot positions, 50 table games, and a poker room, the racetrack phase of the project would get underway.

The clubhouse would be demolished and replaced with a state-of-the-art facility.

“We want a world-class racetrack to accompany the project,” Carey said. “It’s going to be a racing facility that will rival anything in the [United States]. This will change racing in Illinois.

“We currently have 400,000-square feet. We don’t need 400,000-square feet in racing anymore. We’re going to design a smaller more intimate facility that includes a new paddock, a new jockey’s room, a new winner’s circle, and a new tote board.

“In order to compete in racing, we need gaming. This venue will provide that and more. We believe this will be the most lucrative gaming license for the state of Illinois.”

When the Illinois legislature passed the 1999 law activating the tenth riverboat casino license that was dormant after a boat in East Dubuque went out of business, it eliminated the cruising requirement for existing riverboat casinos and allowed dockside gaming. In addition, the law allocated 15% of the adjusted-gross revenue to racetracks and horse owners to offset losses incurred following the legalization of casino gambling in the state.

After some of the investors in the proposed facility in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont became the target of an investigation for alleged ties to organized crime, the anticipated transfer of the license to the location near O’Hare International Airport never materialized. Consequently, the 15% racing subsidy never became reality.

Carey believes, in accordance with the statute, the 15% provision, which would benefit each of the five Illinois racetracks and the state’s Thoroughbred and standardbred horsemen, will be activated if his group is awarded the tenth license.

The state’s goal is to award this license before the end of the year.

To comply with the statutory riverboat requirement, Hawthorne will have a man-made waterway adjacent to the casino, similar to that which was planned if Rosemont had been awarded the license.

Neil Milbert is an Illinois-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent