The Dirt Lawyer's Blog Archive

A developer friend and I had a chance to chat for a moment this morning about this story in today's Tribune . There is more and more speculation about casino gambling being allowed within the Chicago city limits and just where that license to print money might be located. Without naming names, I thought some of the locations were nothing short of absurd for political reasons and because the dirt is just in the wrong place. I would not want to go to probably half those locations. Personally, my money (but only a $2 win bet) is on the Old Post Office, which I have written about before . It is a compelling location visually, the owners have gaming industry experience, I assume they can find a way to get traffic in and out, and the logistics (which the Trib thought might be a problem) shouldn't be because the building basically has to be gutted to get rid of all the asbestos, thus allowing the placement of all the high-tech stuff a casino demands. But in this town, you never know....

When I was a kid, I used to accompany my father on a weekend-long band gig at the French Lick Springs Resort in southern Indiana. The area is better known these days perhaps as the hometown of Larry Bird. It was pretty run down in the 1970s, as I recall, but you could see it was once beautiful. And there was a Donald Ross golf course to boot. I was excited to see that French Lick and the unique West Baden Springs Hotel, have been restored to their former glory as one combined resort. They have added a casino and a Pete Dye course is on the way. It looks stunning. But I think it is also very pricey, especially for southern Indiana. And, based on this story about service problems , I think I will wait a while before visiting. That being said, I hope this resort pans out, if for no other reason because I am nostalgic.