As the authorities from Beloit, Wisconsin, announced on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, the works on Ho-Chunk Nation’s new casino will begin in fall 2024. If all goes well, the construction will be finished in 2026.

New Ho-Chunk’s casino in Wisconsin:

Apart from the casino which will, as planned, cost $405 million, the property will see an 18-story hotel and convention center. The hotel will have more than 300 rooms and visitors will be able to enjoy various beverage and food options, including full-scale restaurants. The property will be located between Willowbrook Road and Interstate 39-90, southeast of Willowbrook and Colley roads.

Once the casino is opened, players will be able to enjoy between 1,500 and 1,800 gaming machines, as well as 44 table games, among which will be blackjack and roulette tables.

Collin Price, the Ho-Chunk Nation Trial Relations Manager, commented: “The final program, that we’re excited about, breaking ground this fall includes a 300-key hotel. We’ve got a large gaming floor that consists of slot machines, table games, and multiple food and beverage outlets within that. We’ve also got a convention center that is going to be multi-use. So we’re looking to bring concerts, you know, performances. We can also have expos, conventions, small meetings.” 

Ho-Chunk Nation and the state entered an agreement allowing the tribe to offer sports betting services in its newest casino as well. According to My Stateline, Price said: “Sports betting will be something that is offered at the casino. That’s something that has been included in our discussions with the state. The space that we’ve identified for sports betting is significant. I can see that it is going to be specifically focused on that.”

In order to start working on the project, the tribe had to get approval from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, which was secured in 2020, as well as from the government – Governor Tony Evers approved the project in 2021. The project will be greatly beneficial to the city’s residents since the casino will generate around 1,500 jobs for both tribal members and the city’s residents. On top of that, the construction project will provide an additional 3,000 people with jobs.

Jerry Gabrielatos, the city’s Manager, said: “With this asset that’s coming to the city, it makes us more attractive for additional development, seeing more shovels go in the ground, not just near the expressway, but throughout the city. Amenities like this can help us, frankly, galvanize interest with other developers to invest here.”

Benefits of the new casino:

The city will greatly benefit from the new casino, not only when it comes to additional revenue and providing people with jobs, but it will also improve its infrastructure. Beloit will get $13 million in federal funding to improve roads and overall infrastructure near the casino, and additional bike and pedestrian lanes will be added to the roads, along with new traffic lights and other improvements.

Ho-Chunk Nation already owns six casinos in the state, and they brought the tribe a lot of benefits, including college tuition for its members, as well as homes for multiple tribal members.

Near the upcoming tribal casino, the work on Rockford’s Hard Rock Casino is about to be finished. It is estimated that the casino will be opened in late summer of 2024. 

As WIFR reports, Price isn’t concerned about the competitor’s casino. He said: “In terms of the gaming market we see our competitors elevating their game, which is how it should be. Everyone’s offering a unique product and that’s what we’re trying to do here. We can all offer something really special for the guests to pick and choose what they want.”

Celestino Ruffini, the CEO of Visit Beloit, is positive that the city will be able to compete with other casinos in Wisconsin and the Chicago area and that the casinos will greatly increase Beloit’s popularity among tourists.