CHICAGO, May 10 (UPI) -- Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said Monday the city will seek a land-based, city-owned gambling casino to ease the burden on city taxpayers.
Daley had rejected calls for a casino in the past, even though such a facility is projected to bring about $200 million in annual revenue for the cash-strapped city.
Last week, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., proposed an Indian casino and hotel complex in the south suburbs that would be owned by Wisconsin's Ho-Chunk Nation.
Daley's proposed land-based casino would be built in an yet to be chosen non-residential area near downtown readily available to tourists and conventioneers. The casino would have 3,000 gaming positions.
Possible sites include a vacant former main post office south of the Loop and the McCormick Lakeside Center near the sprawling McCormick Place Exposition Center.
The casino would be city-owned but privately operated. Chicago is ringed by riverboat casinos in suburbs and northern Indiana.
