$150 million casino and hotel opens in Rock Island
ROCK ISLAND _ After years of planning and review and more than a year of construction, a new $150 million casino and hotel complex opened Monday in Rock Island.
Jumer's Casino Rock Island, a 42,500-square-foot casino, hotel and multi-use space is located about three miles from the former Casino Rock Island riverboat.
"It's stunning," Craig Hesser, Jumer's marketing manager, told The Rock Island Argus.
About half of the casino's 1,100 slot machines are new, officials said. There also are 24 table games and six live poker tables. The complex also includes four restaurants, a nightclub and five-story hotel.
"It's been a very long and arduous road to get to this point," said Bill Renk, Jumer's vice president of sales and marketing.
"There's nothing like coming into the facility for the first time, seeing what we have to offer," Renk said. "To sum it up: It's Vegas, baby."
The 16-month construction project employed 400 laborers, and the casino has 700 full-time jobs.
"When we first walked in here, everybody was blown away. The boat was nice, but it got kind of dingy after 16 years," said Jumer's dealer Chuck Wendel.