Boyd Gaming will attempt to build its new $160 million casino, a replacement for the Par-A-Dice Riverboat Casino, in East Peoria, settling months of speculation while also raising new questions.
Officials from Boyd Gaming unveiled their plans to build a new casino in East Peoria to the Illinois Gaming Board on Thursday morning. The gaming board will not make any determination about Boyd Gaming’s plan until February.
Boyd Gaming will use a definitional loophole of the word “water-based” to build its new casino, confirming fears the city of Peoria has long held that it intended to do so.
Rules require that only a riverboat casino can operate in East Peoria and any land-based casino must be built in Peoria.
