
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our mobile app
ROCKFORD — The path to opening Hard Rock Casino is expected to hit a significant milestone on Wednesday as work moves from heavy construction to interior furnishings and decor.
The casino expects to achieve Wednesday what’s known as substantial completion, which is when construction is sufficiently complete for its intended use. The city would also review the site to issue a temporary occupancy permit so Hard Rock can advance with its employee training while completing interior work and punch-list items.
“When you walk in, you won’t believe this facility,” said Brent Johnson, CEO of Ringland-Johnson, which is leading the project. “This is something like Rockford, Illinois, has never seen before.”
More news: Fixes coming to the facade at the historic Coronado Performing Arts Center in Rockford
The milestone doesn’t mean all work on the exterior is done. The paving of the parking lots is being completed and a lot on the east side of Lyford Road is under construction. There’s also additional signage to install.
The much-anticipated arrival of the 90-foot replica of a Rick Nielsen guitar from the Maryland shop where it’s being made is expected toward the middle of next month.
The last six weeks have been an exhaustive effort to get ready in time for the Thursday, Aug. 29 opening, Johnson said.
“It’s been a flurry of activity and we’ve had to step up the pace by working seven days a week and 12 hours a day with well over 100-some construction trades people,” he said.
Crews will spend the next month completing interior furnishings and painting, constructing memorabilia displays, setting up the restaurants and bars, installing a giant guitar chandelier that runs through the main floor and setting up and installing all the gaming equipment.
The casino will include nearly 1,300 slot machines, a sportsbook, 50 live table games including a poker room, six restaurants and a Rock Shop with Hard Rock merchandise and other gifts.
“They’ll be working right up until the day of the guitar smashing,” said Geno Iafrate, president of Hard Rock Casino Rockford. “There’s always that last-minute punch-list stuff that somehow magically ends up getting done.”
Johnson also gave credit to the building trades union for getting the project near the finish line on time.
“I owe the building trade unions a big debt of gratitude because they have been short workers with other projects like the Meta project in Dekalb,” he said. “Business agents have gone above and beyond to make sure we have plenty of trades women and men to be out here working every day to get it done.
“Without people, without workers, we wouldn’t be done on time.”
Construction on the 180,000-square-foot casino kicked off in September 2022, but bringing a casino to the city has been decades in the making.
Several pushes to allow for a casino in Rockford failed before lawmakers approved of a gambling expansion in 2019 that allowed for six additional casinos in Illinois, including one here.
Hard Rock was the first of the six to open its temporary casino, which it did on Nov. 10, 2021.
“The biggest value for us was to introduce the Hard Rock brand to the city, allow us to bring now north of 400 team members to the temporary that have been able to have real on-the-job life experience rather than classroom training,” Iafrate said.
Hard Rock will be the third to open its permanent casino. Golden Nugget Danville opened May 27, 2023, and Walker’s Bluff Casino opened Aug. 25, 2023. Neither of those two brands opted to open a temporary casino first. Wind Creek Chicago Southland is expected to open later this fall. The two other projects have faced delays pushing openings into 2027 and beyond.
The plan for Hard Rock’s temporary casino site at 610 N. Bell School Road so far is to turn it into a hospitality and culinary school. But a final decision hasn’t been made.
“Once we get the permanent opened and as the second half of the year progresses, we’ll have much better clarity into what happens at the temporary,” Iafrate said. “I think we can come to a final conclusion on that by the end of the year.”
Illinois 6 new casinos
Illinois lawmakers expanded gambling in 2019 to allow for six new casinos. Here’s where each of those projects stands:
Bally’s Chicago
Where: 700 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago (former Tribune Publishing complex)
Opening: TBD, temporary casino opened Sept. 9, 2023
Golden Nugget Danville
Where: 204 Eastgate Drive, Danville
Opened: May 27, 2023
Wind Creek Chicago Southland Casino
Where: 17300 Halsted Road, East Hazel Crest
Opening: Fall 2024
Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort
Where: 777 Walker’s Bluff Way, Carterville
Opened: Aug. 25, 2023
American Place
Where: Fountain Square Place, Waukegan
Opening: 2027 (Temporary opened Feb. 17, 2023)
Hard Rock Casino Rockford
Where: 7801 E. State St., Rockford
Opening: Aug. 29, 2024
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas