| By Big Radio News Staff |
Visit Beloit hopes the new Ho-Chunk Casino and Hotel project will spur the local tourism industry.
Visit Beloit CEO Celestino Ruffini says visitors to the casino complex will seek out other activities, amenities, and events throughout the stateline area.
Ruffini says the new convention center planned at the casino could make Beloit a major Midwest player in the event and conference market.
The $400-million project is slated to break ground in the fall, and it will take roughly two years to complete.
The Beloit casino will compete directly with a Hard Rock Casino and conference center a developer is finishing up in neighboring Rockford, Illinois. That gambling and entertainment complex aims to launch this summer.
In size and scope, the Beloit casino project dwarfs Janesville’s planned Woodman’s Sports and Convention Center, a $45-million, two sheet ice arena and sports complex with a 20,000-square foot convention center planned.
Janesville officials think the Woodman’s Center could draw adjacent hotel and entertainment venues, including new housing and additional restaurants, as well as improvements that could revive the ailing Uptown Janesville mall, which the Woodman’s Center will be attached to.
