Construction Resumes at Bally’s Chicago After Gaming Board Clears All Vendors

The riverside eyesore of a halted construction site in Chicago will allow back the trucks and cranes necessary to turn this swath of land into a bustling Bally’s casino. (Photo: Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune / Alamy Live)

Construction on Bally’s Chicago can now resume after the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) lifted its stop work order for the casino site last week.

The announcement, issued by the board on May 14, ended an approximately two-week delay in the construction of the permanent Bally’s Chicago facility in River West. 

D&P Construction Trucks Led to Temporary Construction Halt

Construction had been halted on May 1 after the Chicago Sun-Times questioned the IGB if officials were aware that dumpsters from D&P Construction were being used at the site. 

D&P was once operated by Josephine DiFronzo, her husband Peter DiFronzo, and her brother-in-law, John DiFronzo. In 2005, the IGB revoked a license for a casino project in Rosemont, Illinois after finding that D&P had ties to the project, citing a memo from the FBI that said the DiFronzo brothers were known to be members of an organized crime syndicate.

While Peter and John DiFronzo have both passed away in the two decades since that controversy, it’s unclear who now owns D&P. But regardless, the association raised questions, and the IGB shut down construction, noting that D&P was not an approved vendor for the project.

In its statement, the IGB praised Bally’s response to the situation.

“Today, the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) lifted its May 1, 2025, Stop Work Order on construction of the permanent Bally’s Chicago Casino project,” the statement read. “The IGB issued the Stop Work Order in connection with undisclosed vendors performing work on the project. Presently, no vendors are working on the casino construction project without IGB approval. Bally’s addressed the disclosure failures. It has disclosed, and assured the ongoing disclosure of, all proposed vendors to the IGB. Bally’s is cooperating with the investigation.”

The statement noted that Bally’s was permitted to resume construction on Thursday, May 15. 

“With IGB direction and oversight, Bally’s is implementing required improvements to its vendor and contractor compliance processes and protocols along with additional steps to enhance monitoring, supervision and surveillance at the construction site,” the statement read.

Bally’s confirmed to reporters that construction had resumed on Thursday.

“We appreciate IGB’s collaboration and support throughout this process and look forward to delivering this project to Chicago,” Bally’s said in a statement.

Rocky Road to a Chicago Casino

The Bally’s Chicago project may be under construction, but it has been far from a smooth journey for the gaming giant. 

After Bally’s earned Chicago’s sole casino license in 2022, the company announced plans for a $1.7 billion complex at the site of the former Chicago Tribune printing plant. In the meantime, the company opened a temporary facility at Medinah Temple, which quickly became one of the city’s most popular destinations.

But financial issues plagued the project, exasperated by the company’s heavy debt load. In early 2024, Bally’s acknowledged an $800 million funding gap for the project, though it announced it had secured sufficient funding in July 2024 to complete construction. 

Bally’s also offered a $250 million IPO specifically for minority investors, part of its effort to meet a mandate in its host community agreement with Chicago, which required that at least 25 percent of project equity in the Bally’s Chicago project be owned by minority-controlled entities.

But that IPO was never approved by the SEC and became the target of lawsuits claiming the offering unfairly discriminated against white male investors. Bally’s ultimately offered up a new version of the same IPO, removing the minority investment requirement and instead offering preferential allocations for Chicago and Illinois residents.