Chicago Sun-Times: Casino could be good bet for city

Like a ball bouncing and bobbing in a roulette wheel, proposals for Illinois' 10th casino keep going round and round without producing a winner. Those betting (figuratively speaking) on Rosemont seemed to be in the money (as they say) until the Illinois Gaming Board balked in a legal dispute with Emerald Casino Inc., which holds the license, and the tide turned against Rosemont Mayor Don Stephens. Forty years after buying a motel from a mobster, he is still dogged by "mob influence" allegations. Under the terms of a settlement between the board and Emerald, the license would be sold to another company and bids for the casino would be taken from companies and communities throughout the state. We still think Rosemont would be an ideal site, with its proximity to O'Hare and convention traffic. But now that the window of opportunity has been flung wide open, we think that Chicago is even better--that a casino in the city would benefit more people than anywhere else while adding to its reputation as a great place to be.

A decade ago, Mayor Daley proposed a family-oriented $2 billion casino-entertainment-theme park complex for near downtown. He wasn't able to swing a deal with the state, but much has happened since then in the ever-more lucrative field of gaming--including the overturning of the law that Illinois casinos need to set sail. There are plenty of arguments against a Chicago casino, among them that it wouldn't spark tourism because it would draw mostly local gamblers. And in terms of image, there is a downside to allowing gambling to rub its glittery shoulders with the city's loftier cultural institutions. It's certainly not as though Chicagoans need a casino to provide them with something to do in their leisure time.

But even in the absence of a major spike in tourism, the increase in tax revenues would be enormous and the city likely would profit from keeping conventions it would lose to places where gambling is available. And as London and Montreal have shown, it's possible for a great city to embrace gaming without compromising its integrity. The 21st century is here. It's time to move ahead and play by the new rules of the game.