The design of the planned Bally's River North casino and hotel complex has undergone a significant overhaul which replaced much of the glitz of the original Vegas scheme in favor of a more sober appearance.
Planning Department Commissioner Maurice Cox said the “evolved” new design was the result of months of bi-weekly meetings with casino officials, stakeholders and others.
He said the result was a “better product.”
The new renderings – first obtained by the Sun-Times – are expected to be published later Thursday.
“Our intention was to really create a Chicago moment,” Cox said of the new design. “The feeling that will become iconic.”
But did the change give Chicago a win?
‘Unforgettable architectural moment'
According to the latest renderings, the redesign completely changes the appearance of the first phase of the $1.7 billion complex to be developed by Bally's.
Previous renderings show a more upscale casino complex
The changes don't alter the placement of plan components, approved last year by the city: a 3,000-seat theater at the southern end of the complex, followed by casino, restaurant and retail spaces, then the curved, 505,000-square-foot glass-faced hotel tower that holds the section north of campus.
But the 1.4 million square foot casino and theater is a lot smaller than before, especially above the first floor. The new design features an expanse of light-colored corrugated façade material overlooking the river.
“We talked a lot about how you take something that's a big box and make it into something that's an unforgettable architectural moment,” Cox said of the change.
Cox said the redesigned facade was “meant to remember the language of the industry” of the Chicago Tribune's Freedom Center printing plant which was to be demolished to make way for a casino.
(The printing operation is scheduled to move from the location next year. Bally's is buying the 30-acre plot for $200 million in 2022 after the city approved plans to build Chicago's first casino there.)
Under the redesign, the complex doesn't scream casino! loudly as before. The rework makes it clear other facilities and attractions are there — and can be visited without going to the casino.
“Our thought was that we should bring Chicagoans to this site, whether they wanted to or not,” Cox said.
An ‘urban casino'
In March, I said the then-designed casino complex was “huge, austere, yet architecturally anonymous … better suited for a stretch of I-15 in the Nevada desert … than for the primary planned urban riverfront site.”
That opinion has not changed. The new design approach—however ambitious—still couldn't get past the fact that the giant casinos and entertainment complexes on Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street were woefully mismatched.
For example, the one-acre riverfront of a casino and park south of the theater could become a lush green bank along the Naturalist's North Branch.
Instead, the path appears to be a collection of hardscape with greenery dotting the edges.
And it has to happen. That's because the design caters to large commercial establishments that must accommodate the large number of people drawn to the site to eat, gamble, and be entertained.
The revamp managed to help the complex look less like a brightly lit roadside tourist attraction, which helps the planned second phase of residential developments to the west from having to compete with the flash lights of casinos – or risk being overshadowed by them.
However, with these changes the complex looks more anonymous than before.
That's because the task at hand is an architectural one: How would you design a casino in the middle of a major American city known for its architecture?
Do you lean into it—like Bally's first approach—so that the casino attracts customers by being as bright, flashy, and flashy as that old Holiday Inn motel sign?
Or do you squeeze everything out, as the redesign did, and make the casino quieter and more orderly?
“No (large) American city can afford an urban casino,” Cox said.
And on the corner of Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street, we may just find out why.
Lee Bey is an architectural critic for the Chicago Sun-Times and a member of the Editorial Board.
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