Casino groundbreaking set for April 19
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DANVILLE — As preparations continue for a building demolition and other plans for the Golden Nugget Danville casino, a groundbreaking has been set for 2 p.m. April 19.
Groundbreaking will occur that afternoon when Jimmy Wilmot, president of Danville Development, and other casino officials also will give an updated presentation that night to the Danville City Council.
Plans are to tear down an approximately 50,000-square-feet building on the site. An approximately 60,000-square-feet pre-manufactured metal building will remain.
The proposed Golden Nugget Danville Casino at 204 Eastgate Drive will feature a 41,500-square-foot gaming floor with 500 slot machines, 14 table games, two restaurants, including a Saltgrass Steakhouse, a sportsbook and 650 surface parking spaces. The project will offer an online gaming and digital sports betting platform through Golden Nugget Online Gaming, Inc. There will be about 300 jobs.
The additional building square footage for Phase 1 allows for meeting rooms or additional casino or restaurant space.
Wilmot said since the preliminary suitability approval, they’ve been in fluid communication with Illinois Gaming Board officials to comply with everything to open.
Danville Development was granted leave to break ground and begin the construction process, and is expected to be granted leave in the near future to close on the financing process.
When that occurs, expected within the next week to 10 days, they can give notice to proceed to the general contractor, Wilmot said.
Wilmot said they have a long list of items on the check list to be completed between now and opening. Construction is expected to take 11 months.
The casino could open in March 2023.
“By mid-March we’d be opening the doors. We might pick up or lose some time,” Wilmot said of the construction process.
Traffic study
A traffic impact study was completed two years ago on the proposed casino.
Items being considered:
- Construct a new connector road between Eastgate Drive and Lynch Road near the proposed facility. Provide separate left- and right-turn lanes on the new connector road at the approach to Lynch Road. This lane configuration could easily be restriped in the future when the east side develops to provide a separate left-turn lane and a shared through/right-turn lane. Provide a shared left/right-turn lane on the new connector road at the approach to Eastgate Drive.
- Provide a northbound left-turn lane on Lynch Road at the new connector road. At a minimum, a short hatched out southbound left-turn lane will also be required. However, consideration should be given to constructing the ultimate length of the southbound left-turn lane when the northbound lane is constructed for the gaming facility. Provide a southbound right-turn lane on Lynch Road at the new connector road. The recommended turn lanes should be designed to accommodate minimum deceleration lengths based on the design speed of Lynch Road and ultimately determined by an intersection design study.
The study said the gaming facility and restaurant are expected to be busiest later in the evening (7-8 p.m.) rather than peak at the same time as adjacent streets (3-4 p.m.). The p.m. peak hour generator shows 360 trips to the casino, while the a.m. peak hour generator showed 105 trips.
The weekday current peak hour for traffic in that area is 6:15 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. The daily truck percentage along Lynch Road between I-74 and U.S. 136 is about 11-13 percent.
Total hourly traffic volumes range on adjacent roads near U.S. 136 and Lynch Road can range from about 1,300 to 1,900.
City officials have said traffic signals aren’t warranted in the Lynch Road area at this time with the proposed casino development.
