The Kenosha City Council has voted in favor of approving plans for the proposals to open a Hard Rock Wisconsin property in the city.
Approving the Hard Rock proposals to open a property in association with the Menominee Indian Tribe, the city council voted 11-6 in favor.
The $360m development aims to be an entertainment destination center and is set to be located just west of Interstate-94. Hard Rock states that the property will “strengthen the county’s growing economy and provide numerous benefits to the community”.
FOX6 News reports that it has seen the proposal documents from the Menominee Indian Tribe and notes that the development aims to have 1,500 slot machines and an estimated 50 table games – plus restaurants, bars and more.
Under the proposals, the city council would own the land, which is currently farmland – on which the casino would lie and the Menominee Tribe would operate the facility.
Further terms outline that the construction would create around 1,000 jobs throughout the project, while there is set to be an additional 1,000 permanent jobs once the casino opens its doors.
This would, the documents claim, result in nearly 2.5 million annual visitors and revenue of $352m for Kenosha County and $492m for the state.
However, there are still several hurdles that proponents must overcome before breaking ground. While the city council has approved the measure, the Menominee Tribe still requires both county and state approvals.
The Kenosha County will debate the proposals later this month but that process itself could take months. If that approval is secured, the tribe will need to expand its gaming compact with the state to cover a second casino property. It currently has the Menominee Casino Resort in Keshena.
